The Koneko Wars
by Whisper Reilman
Summary: Two men: Aya Fujimiya and Yohji Kudou One target: Ken Hidaka The result: Fanservice
1. Alliances Dissolved

Well hiya people! I am Whisper Reilman and this is my fanfic. It was going to be a one-shot fic that I was going to submit to Blade and Claw's Ken Uke contest, but along the way I got other ideas and...well...maybe it will be ready in time for next year's contest, eh? So, here comes the disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER, WARNINGS, AND OTHER SUCH THINGS: First off darlings, this fanfic is yaoirific, that is, it contains yaoi. In fact, in a couple chapters it will contain quite a bit of it. If this isn't your thing then go read a safefic of some sort. Second, I do not own Weiß. I own a lot of merchandise, but did not come up with the idea and do not profit from the madness I am writing in any way, shape, or form. Though, if the fates were kind to me they'd let me profit in the form of Ken, but I doubt that will happen. You have now been warned and disclaimed and, if you're still with me, you rock.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter One: Alliances Dissolved

"Yohji-san, where's Ken-san? It's Thursday." Yohji looked up from the dahlias he was supposed to be arranging and took in the pouting fangirl in front of him. He would have smiled at her, but she was wearing a soccer jersey that had "Hidaka Forever" emblazoned on the front of it. 

"Good morning Megumi-chan, Ken asked me to fill in for him today." The tall blonde waited patiently through Megumi's squeal of disappointment then took up a flower from the pile that sat in front of him. "Your frown pains me," he leaned forward and ran the petals of the flower across her mouth, "perhaps this will wipe it away." He handed the flower to her and nearly laughed at her startled expression, converting the sparkling laughter in his eyes into a steamy, half lidded longing.

"A...arigato Yohji-san." Megumi bowed, clutching the flower to her chest. "Ano...would you give this to Ken-san for me please, it's very important that he get it today."

Yohji reached out slowly and took the envelope she held out to him. _A love letter, how revolting._ Keeping his inner disgust hidden, he passed the envelope under his nose and smiled. "Ah, it smells of your shampoo, how fortunate Ken is to receive such a blessing." _Why does this envelope smell like cologne? This girl has definite issues, though I wouldn't expect less from the president of Ken's fan club. How did their club song go again?_ Yohji spat out polite, flattering words to the girl as she left, his mind wondering back and forth between singing the Ken Club's anthem and pondering the cologne that the letter seemed to be saturated in.

"You shouldn't fondle someone else's mail." At the sound of the icy, deep voice Yohji started and set the letter down on the counter. "You've been down here for two hours and haven't gotten a single thing done, have you?"

Yohji shrugged and stepped away from the table. "I figured I would save you the trouble of having to redo it when I inevitably screwed up." To be honest, Yohji didn't know why they were still working at the Koneko; Taketori had been taken down, Schwarz had been defeated, and Aya-chan and Sakura-chan had both been shipped off to an all girls boarding school in Switzerland. The last had been Aya's doing, the paranoid assassin believed that his dear imouto would still be in danger if she stayed in Japan. At least Ken and Omi were getting on with their lives. Omi had placed first in the national exams and received a full scholarship to a nearby private college and, though his studies took up a generous amount of his day, he still was able to take closing shifts at the shop and join Weiß on the missions Manx brought from the new director of operations. Ken had cleared his name and gone back to his first love, J-League. In the years he'd been absent from the league his skills hadn't faded any. In fact, thanks to Weiß, he was better now than he had been before the scandal-- sports analysts were predicting Japan's victory in the World Cup this year. Of course this meant that, during the season, Ken missed some missions while at away games, though none of his teammates could complain when he returned after a game, his smile banishing every shadow in the room, even the one that seemed to continually hover around Aya. "I wasn't fondling the mail," Yohji protested, breaking out of his reverie. Casually he walked over to Aya and waved the envelope under the man's nose. "Does this smell like a crazed fangirl to you?" _It smells more like a crazed fanboy._ Yohji dismissed that thought quickly, mentally berating himself. _Wishful thinking Kudou._

"It could be another trap, open it." Aya stood across from Yohji, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes giving away nothing as he waited for his orders to be carried out.

"You can't just _open_ someone else's mail, Aya. Ken would be able to figure out if it's a trap on his own, he doesn't need us butting into his personal business." Aya raised a brow and continued to stand patiently, waiting for Yohji to work through his own stupidity. _Right Yohji, he hasn't figured it out the last three times someone tried to kill him. Half rate hitmen the lot of them, you'd think that with what some of these players earn they'd at least be able to afford someone with decent skills and some tact. The love letter thing has sooo been done before. But why would Megumi-chan be working against her idol?_ With a sigh Yohji handed the envelope to Aya. "You do it, if he's going to be mad at someone for prying into his life, I'd rather it not be me."

Aya took the letter from Yohji's hand and grunted at him in way of reply. Nodding towards the front door to remind the blonde that they had business to conduct, Aya retreated to the back room where he proceeded to steam the envelope open with the heat and moisture of his breath. _Ken, what have you gotten yourself into this time?_ The redhead slowly peeled the top of the envelope back and removed the letter inside, scanning it's contents for a few moments before dropping the letter to the ground, his body frozen in shock.

"Oi, Aya! Can I get some help out here, this lady wants three...Aya?" _Oh shit. _Seeing Aya's frozen form Yohji ran back into the showroom and begged pardon of the kind woman, telling her that Omi would deliver her order to her later that day, he had a family emergency to tend to. Easily taken by Yohji's charm, the middle-aged housewife gladly agreed and left the shop, nearly getting hit on the head as Yohji pulled the gate down, locking it before he hurried back to Aya. "Aya, talk to me!" He shook the redhead until the movement of Aya's hand caught his attention, a long pale finger was pointing to the letter on the floor. _Who is it? Who's trying to get at our Kenken?_ Yohji picked the letter up off the cement and scanned it before looking over to Aya with his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide. "Well shit."

*******

Ken came bouncing into the Koneko, sweat plastering his t-shirt to his chest, revealing every twitch and flex of the muscles beneath. "Hey Omi, has Megumi-chan been in today?" he asked the genki youth who appeared to be the only one of his teammates in the store.

"Hai Ken-kun, Yohji said she left you a letter but I don't know where he put it. Can you lend a hand for a few, Yohji and Aya split on me."

"Aya split? Is something wrong with..."

Omi waved his hands frantically. "Oh no, nothing like that, they said they had some business to attend to and they'd be back in about an hour. The after school rush is about to begin and I can't handle it by myself."

Ken ran over to the corner of the shop and took his blue apron off of the hanger, quickly tying it about himself. _I reek._ With a sigh he plastered a smile on his face and prepared for the fangirls that would, no doubt, be endeavoring to grope him.

*******

"This is the address I found," Yohji whispered, pulling the Seven up beside a white, middle-income apartment complex. "Apartment 410 is two doors over to the right and up." Aya nodded and moved out of the car silently. Though dressed in dark blue jeans and a white short-sleeved oxford, Aya moved as though on a mission, his body tense with anticipation, his mind focused on his target. Without waiting for Yohji to follow Aya walked up the stairs to apartment 410, taking them three at a time in long, fluid strides. Raising a white hand Aya knocked twice on the mahogany door then waited, a scowl ready for whomever answered.

"Aya-san, how good of you to visit! Won't you come in?" Megumi moved away from the door, waiting for her second favorite florist to enter. "What can I do for...:"

"Where's Shinichi?" Aya kept the malice from his voice, though his anger was quite visible in the fiery depths of his amethyst eyes.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" Aya covered his ears as Megumi yelled for her brother, only stopping when another knock came from the door. She opened it, smiling as Yohji barreled his way in. He was about to start yelling at Aya when Shinichi Igarashi entered the room in his pajama pants and a towel wrapped around his neck. 

"YOU!" Yohji snarled, lunging toward the man only to be held back by Aya. 

"Yohji calm down." It was not a plea, it was an order, and Aya's orders were to be followed at all times, whether on or off a mission. "Shinichi-san, we need to speak with you alone for a moment." Aya turned to the president of Ken's fan club. "I'm sure Ken is in the shop now and would be pleased to see you." _Get the hint and leave you pathetic waste of skin._ Aya fought hard not to scowl at the girl who, day after day, latched herself onto Ken like a parasite.

"Hai, Aya-san, arigatou!" Without a second thought Megumi raced out of the apartment and out to her bicycle.

After a few moments of painful silence, Shinichi spoke, "Can I get you anything to drink gentlemen? Some tea perhaps?"

"Leave Ken alone." Aya always came straight to the point.

"Nani?" Shinichi looked to redhead and began to shake slightly when he saw the pure hatred in the violet eyes glaring at him.

"Listen, we understand you've been seeing a lot of Ken recently, we don't approve of it and are telling you to stay away from him." _Though I can see what Kenken must see in you, you're almost as delicious as he is._

"But I'll never make it into J-League without his help!" Shinichi cried, falling to the floor in front of the two men. "We've been training for a month now and the tryouts are coming soon, without his help I'll never make it in." Aya and Yohji stared at the man before them, not buying the performance. Omi could do better. "It took me weeks to work up the courage to ask for his help, even though Megumi-chan said he would gladly give it. I didn't think a star like him would want to help a rookie like me, but Megumi-chan was right, he agreed immediately and since we've been training my skills have increased dramatically. Please, I'll stay away from him after tryouts but I need to make it into the League, it's been my only dream."

Yohji sighed and glanced at Aya, who nodded. "Very well, continue to train, so long as you don't take advantage of Ken's generosity." The blonde gave Shinichi a piercing glare, showing that he knew just how much advantage he'd taken.

"_He's_ the one who kissed _me_ okay!" Shinichi cringed at his slip and moved away from the two florists. Ken had warned him about how protective they were, he had even invented the cover of training for J-league, which wasn't that far from the truth, though Shinichi was trying out for the minors instead of league. However, after the tips Ken had given him, for they _did_ practice soccer every other night, Shinichi was almost tempted to see if he could join Ken in J-League. He could imagine it now, Ken leaving the field sweaty and covered in dirt, peeling off his shirt and...the sound of Aya's growl startled the young athlete, making him jump and fall onto the coffee table.

"Aya, sit down." Yohji instructed, pointing to an arm chair across the room. The snarling redhead stalked over to the chair and fell down into it, his eyes never leaving Shinichi. "Now then, Shinichi-kun, let me explain something to you about Kenken. He belongs to us. When you get to J-League you're going to forget all about him and break his heart and we can't have that. You see Aya over there?" He pointed toward the fuming man. "Can you imagine what he'd do to you if you hurt Ken?"

"I'd be dead," Shinichi whispered, his eyes still stuck staring into the swirling amethyst of Aya's eyes. Eyes that showed his depth of feeling toward his soccer playing teammate, eyes that promised pain to anyone who tried to take what was his.

"Very good, now you're beginning to understand. So, you may see Ken until tryouts, which are in two weeks, ne?" Shinichi nodded. "Then you're going to call things off and never touch him again because next time I won't stop Aya from hurting you. Understood?"

"Hai." That one word held all the despair Shinichi felt and, for a moment, Yohji felt guilty.

"Good, we'll be going then." Yohji looked at Aya, who raised himself off the chair, sparing a snarl for Shinichi, who was still sprawled out over the coffee table. The two assassins walked to Seven in a thick silence. "Well Aya, it's been fun." Yohji started the car and sighed. "Now that Kenken has decided to take his ass out of the closet the alliance is dissolved, hai?"

"Hai."

"Well, good luck. You're not going to beat me, but good luck all the same."

"You too."

The rest was silence.

AN: So then, did we enjoy ourselves? I hope so. Stay tuned for Chapter Two at some point other than right now. Read and review if it suits you to.


	2. Truth, Lies, and Membership Cards!

Kon'nichi wa minna-san! Well, here's chapter two, out faster than I though possible. I guess I was just inspired...or something. Before we go any further I suppose I should let you know where I'm coming from with all of this. I am, as those of you who have experienced my reviews know, a banner-totting, flag waving Ranken girl at heart. I even have freakish justifications, which I will put in the note to chapter three. *grins* BUT! I must admit that the Yoken concept intrigues me and I've been wanting to explore it. So this fic was my chance to just go to town and do both. *drools* Sorry, that had a word picture with it that was just...anyhow let's move on.

A big hug to all my reviewers, I love you all! Okay, here's the mandatory disclaimer (cut and pasted from the previous chapter because I'm lazy today) and then we can get on with the fic.

DISCLAIMER, WARNINGS, AND OTHER SUCH THINGS: First off darlings, this fanfic is yaoirific, that is, it contains yaoi. In fact, in a couple chapters it will contain quite a bit of it. If this isn't your thing then go read a safefic of some sort. Second, I do not own Weiß. I own a lot of merchandise, but did not come up with the idea and do not profit from the madness I am writing in any way, shape, or form. Though, if the fates were kind to me they'd let me profit in the form of Ken, but I doubt that will happen. You have now been warned and disclaimed and, if you're still with me, you rock.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter Two: Truth, Lies, and Membership Cards!

Ken jumped as yet another hand found itself trying to wander down the back of his pants, this one getting so far as to get in a good squeeze before Ken leaped away from the offender. "I could have you arrested for that, you know," Ken grumbled, adjusting his pants again before turning to glare at his molester only to find him or her gone. "Oi, Yohji, did you see..."

"The fangirl who copped a feel? Hai, she ran out when you screamed." A mischievous smile lit Yohji's face, but Ken was too busy looking out the store window, trying to find the fangirl he was now determined to kill. 

"Ken, get back to work!" Aya growled, then turned, sparing a frown of disapproval for Yohji. "Kudou, there are orders that need to be delivered, perhaps you could attempt to do some work today."

"Aya, your words wound me!" Yohji leaned against the counter and placed a hand against his forehead melodramatically.

"Ken-sama! Ken-sama!" In the corner of the shop a young redheaded girl was jumping up and down endeavoring to get Ken's attention.

"Hai?" Ken asked from in the midst of his fangroup, many of whom had formerly been "Yohji's Girls" but had left the lanky blonde in favor of the now famous brunette.

"Ken-sama, I'm doing an article on you for my school paper and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions?" The girl was endeavoring to shove her way through Ken's protective fangirl layer and was failing miserably.

"If you're writing an article why don't you have anything to write with?" Megumi asked. Today she was wearing her school uniform, a blue plaid skirt and white polo, though placed over her heart was a button that said, "Hidaka Ken Fanclub, Chapter President." 

"I have a tape recorder," the girl replied, fishing the device out of her purse.

"Do you have a membership card?" At her word, all of the fangirls in Ken's protective nimbus raised laminated cards high above their heads and looked challengingly at the redheaded girl.

"I am Yoko Motsu, president of the Hidaka Ken Fanclub, Chapter 2 and you, Megumi Igarashi, president of Hidaka Ken Fanclub, Chapter 42, had best learn to be more respectful." Slowly Yoko took a gold membership card from the breast pocket of her uniform cardigan and held it up for all to see.

While the fangirls were busy ogling the membership card of the second highest ranking member of the Hidaka Ken Fanclub, the object of their affection was busy trying to run away. With speed gained from long hours of soccer practice and too many missions to count, Ken ran past Yohji, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him out the side door. "Come on, we've got deliveries." Yohji hid a triumphant smirk as they hopped into an already loaded Seven and took off.

*******

Aya watched Ken pull Yohji out of the shop and frowned at the mob of fangirls that had scared the soccer player off. Pushing up his sleeves he waded into their midst, amethyst eyes blazing with fury. "You," he pulled a girl from the mass and hauled her to the exit, "you have been to the shop every day this week for at least four hours a day and have bought nothing, you are banned." A collective gasp was heard as Ken's fans rushed to various displays, picking up flowers to purchase. Outside, one girl's face was pressed to the glass, watching as her friends tried to avoid her sad fate.

*******

"So what did you do last night Yotan?" Finally away from the screaming throng, Ken was able to relax and enjoy the fresh morning air.

"The usual," Yohji smirked, "went to a few clubs, had a few drinks, saw a few cute waiters, got some phone numbers."

Ken was about to make a retort when he noticed a key difference to Yohji's usual itinerary. _Did he say waiters? Nah, this is Yohji we're talking about, get your brain back in your head Hidaka. _"You left out the loud and gratifying sex today, Yotan. Something go wrong?" _Wonderful Ken, what a way to get your mind out of the gutter._

Yohji noticed Ken's initial shock at his change in the usual "Yohji BS" as Omi liked to call it. _Very promising_. "All of them were redheads and, to be honest, I prefer blondes or brunettes, don't you?" Yohji watched the soccer player intently in his peripheral vision. _Hurry up and take the bait Kenken, we're almost to our first delivery point_.

"It doesn't really matter to me, so long as...hey, we're here!" Ken pointed to the small house that was their destination for their first delivery. When Yohji had completely stopped the vehicle Ken hopped out with the bouquet, did a quick transaction, signed an autograph, and hopped back in the car. 

"What a cutie," Yohji said under his breath, though intentionally loud enough for Ken to "overhear."

"Yeah," Ken replied before realizing what he had done, then turning a bright shade of red when realization dawned on him. "I mean...I'm not...oh shit."

"Something wrong Kenken? The bishounen steal your ability to think?" Yohji's grin put the Cheshire Cat to shame as he started the engine and began to drive to the next delivery point.

"Seriously Yotan, I..."

"We already know, Ken," Yohji said, still smiling.

"How did you..."

"It's kinda obvious when your eyes get plastered to every hot ass that walks into the store. Not to mention that some of those teammates of yours seem to let their hands linger a little longer than sportsmanship and camaraderie indicate is appropriate." Yohji's smile had receded as a picture of one of Ken's teammates came to his mind. It was discovered that Katsuo Nekoi was using illegal drugs shortly after he had begun taking a few too many liberties with a certain goalie on his team. Aya had snapped their binoculars in half when he saw the man groping Ken after a game.

"So you're not, you know, grossed out or anything?" Ken's face had turned bright red and he was huddled in the seat, trying to bury his blush in his knees.

"Tell me, Kenken, how many of the players on your team have you slept with?" Yohji wanted to know who he had to kill and, even though he and Aya were now rivals, he was sure that the redhead would assist him in the completion of operation "Destroy the Competition."

"Yohji!" Ken buried his face deeper into his knees and hoped Yohji would forget he was there. _This is what I get for running away from my problems; fending off screaming fangirls would be better than this._

"I'm taking you out tonight Ken, you need to loosen up." Yohji lifted his sunglasses off of his nose and winked at the brunette then turned his attention back to the road.

"Yohji, I don't want to go to some club full of sleazy women who are only interested in..."

"What if it was a club full of sleazy men, would you go then?" The blonde could hear the squeaking of the gears in Ken's head as they turned, trying to figure out what Yohji was implying.

"So you mean you're..." Ken growled low in his throat when Yohji interrupted him again.

"Get a clue Ken, do you really think that the 'fangirls' who keep groping you are fast enough to leave the store before you turn around?"

An idea suddenly blossomed in Ken's mind. "I've noticed you and Aya have been spending a lot of time together recently. Are the two of you, you know?"

"God no!" Yohji wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Don't get me wrong, he's a great leader and all, but he's got that beloved stick of his shoved so far up his ass that nothing else can get in there."

"He never seemed the uke type to me," Ken pondered aloud.

"So are you saying you've pondered this before Kenken?" Yohji threw a grin on his face to hide the seething jealousy coursing through his veins.

"Well I kinda assumed Aya was gay, he doesn't seem the kind to be with someone prettier than he is." _Why am I talking to Yohji about this. Yohji, who would screw anything that moves, who wore skin tight clothing that just...woah Ken, let's not get carried away._

"So, what about me?" Yohji asked, his hand traveling from the gear shift to rub the back of Ken's calf. _Kenken, if you'd just sit properly in your seat we'd be having a lot more fun right now. Crap, we're here. _This time Yohji did the delivery, sparing a few moments to flirt with the pretty woman who answered the door. When he returned to Seven Ken was staring at him, slack-jawed.

"I thought you said women weren't your type?" the brunette protested.

"It's called a cover Ken, it keeps Koneko in business and overzealous men off my beautiful tail. So, I'll pick you up at nine and we'll go down to one of my favorite spots, wear something nice, eh?" The rest of the deliveries were made without any further conversation between the two as Ken stared out at the houses they passed and Yohji sang along with the radio.

AN: Yes, short, I know. But at least I updated, ne? Wow, Ran actually banned someone from the shop. *shrugs* It was bound to happen at some point or another. But the really great news is...we have come to the point where shameless fanservice begins! Woot! Read and review if it suits you to and I'll see you next time.


	3. Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me

Kon'nichi wa Minna-san!

I'm back with another chapter of Koneko Wars. A big hug to all my reviewers and now onto some clarifications.

Yes, this will be a Ranken fic. I have thrown in some Yoken for fun, but Ranken is the one true way. I offer this as my reasoning: 1) Watch the Gluhen tour VCD. Koyasu-san and Seki-san are *always* paired up. Especially in the dramatic scenes. So, obviously, Koyasu-san and Seki-san are promoting the Ranken cause. 2) In the majority of the Weiß images Ken and Aya are standing together. 3) Go to the end page of Assassin and White Shaman 2...on the top Omi is hugging Yohji and on the bottom Aya is leaning quite comfortably on Ken, you might even call it a light embrace 4) They look cute together. There are more reasons and bits of evidence, but I will save that for a later rant.

My next clarification comes from some concern over Ken's behavior that was brought up in a few reviews. See, I don't see Ken as a player type, I see him more as the type who is too nice to turn people down unless said people really annoy him. I have endeavored to correct some of this in this chapter. 

-Whisper

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Weiß, there would be more fanservice if I did. 

WARNING, ETC: If you are not into yaoi or shonen-ai, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not enjoy blatant fanservice, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not like humor, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not like bishounen, you are a freak. Go away. 

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 3: Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me

Yohji slipped out of his favorite leather pants and threw them at the wall. "Not good enough," he muttered, turning away from the full length mirror on his door and heading toward the "Sex God" half of his closet. A shaky hand caressed a garment bag hanging on the far right then gingerly removed it. "If this doesn't work, nothing will."

Meanwhile, Ken observed the contents of his own closet and picked out the one outfit suitable for clubbing, a pair of tight leather pants and a leather vest with a two-way zipper. "Guess this will have to do, it's all I've got." Peeling off his dirty jeans and carelessly tossing them to the floor, Ken slipped into his outfit and went to the kitchen to get a snack before he met Yohji in the garage. "Hey Aya!" Ken waved to his teammate and headed for the fridge.

"Hi," Aya replied, his eyes plastered to Ken's ass as the athlete passed him.

"Wow, a response!" Ken turned from the fridge with the makings of a roast beef sandwich.

"I'm not mute Ken." It had come out with a little more bitterness than intended, though Ken didn't seem to notice.

"Then why don't you talk more?" The brunette set his sandwich makings down and hopped up onto the counter next to where Aya was leaning. Carefully he began to assemble his sandwich, using his lap as a plate.

"If no one's going to listen, there's no point in talking." Aya watched a drop of mayonnaise fall from the knife in Ken's hand onto his inner thigh. _Kami-sama, this is not happening._ Aya's body moved in revolt to all of his coherent, decent intentions, his hand beginning to slowly move up Ken's leg, applying slight pressure.

"I'll listen to you Aya," Ken replied breathlessly, his body reacting to the feel of Aya's hand moving up his leg, slowly arching down toward his inner thigh where the dollop of mayonnaise sat, waiting. _Just a little higher. _Ken's spine stiffened. _What the Hell am I thinking? This is Aya, he's just helping me out. _Ken let out a small grunt as Aya's finger reached the mayonnaise and removed it, pressing down deep into his leg. 

*******

Yohji rounded the corner into the kitchen, smiling and humming to himself, but froze when he heard Ken expel what his experience told him was a "pleasure noise." Images flickered into Yohji's mind, images of Ken thrown against the kitchen table and being ravished by...the sound of Aya's voice shattered his daydream.

"Perhaps when you have time," the chill voice said.

__

*******

"Perhaps when you have time."

Ken refrained from whimpering when Aya's hand left his leg but had to stifle a groan when he saw a slim, pale finger slide between Aya's thin lips, a pink tongue flicking out to remove any last traces of the creamy condiment from the digit. Ken couldn't help but answer in a voice deepened by lust, "Anytime you want Aya." 

*******

_He's good_, Yohji thought to himself. What bothered him even more was that he had been enjoying the scene. _You are not a voyeur, Yohji, you are an action-taker. You _will not_ enjoy the site of Aya seducing Ken, now get out there and get your boy out of that red haired harpy's claws!_ After a brief mental pep talk Yohji swept further into the kitchen and posed near the dining table only to become aggravated when Ken didn't even notice him.

"You're going to have a stain on your pants if you don't wash the rest off soon, Ken." Aya's voice was deeper and quieter than usual. It caressed the air and wrapped around the senses, even rendering Yohji immobile for a moment.

"You ready to go Kenken?" the blonde asked when he had recovered his vocal skills. _This is going to be tougher than I thought._

"Hai!" Ken responded, jumping off the counter, spilling his half-made sandwich onto the floor. "Agh! My sandwich!" Ken wobbled a little on his right leg, which was still buzzing from Aya's electric touch. Without a word, the redhead in question bent down and picked up the ruined sandwich, tossing it into the trash.

"We'll pick you up something at the club, Kenken, don't worry," Yohji said, moving over to Ken and putting an arm around him, anything to get the brunette's eyes off of their death-focus on Aya's prone posterior. _He's taking his time of wiping up that mayonnaise. Even _I'm _not that obvious, Ken has to be seeing through this._ Yohji gave Ken an extra squeeze, trying to get the man's attention. _Then again, Kenken never was one to get subtleties. _And there was nothing subtle about the smooth way Aya arched his back as he rose from his hunch, carrying a paper towel coated in mayonnaise. _At least he didn't lick it._

*******

Ken stared wide-eyed as they entered the Onyx Room. Never having been to a club before, his senses were being washed away by the pulsating music and the flashing lights. Yohji grinned, completely in his element. Here there was nothing that could stop him from making his move on Ken. 

"Oi! Ken!" a voice boomed, though it was just able to be heard above the music. Yohji swore his mission must be cursed.

Ken turned around, a beatific smile on his face. "Koshi? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Hidaka." The lean athlete looked Yohji up and down then smiled. "So this is why you keep refusing me." Koshi stalked around Yohji, assessing the blonde more critically. "He's too skinny, you'd snap him in half. I'll bet he smokes too." The grimace said that Koshi held Ken's opinions on smoking.

"Who is this parasite, another member of your fan club?" Yohji hissed, glaring at the newcomer. 

"Yohji! This is Koshi Otani, our star forward! Haven't you even _watched_ one of my games?" Ken's eyes grew into large, melting pools of chocolate reflecting his hurt. Did none of his teammates care about him?

"He's probably too busy drooling over you, ne Yohji?" Koshi winked at the playboy and slid his arm around his teammate, grinning wickedly over the brunette's shoulder. 

Ken wiggled out of Koshi's grip. "Koshi, I told you to stop that, I'm not interested in anyone on the team, you know that. Besides," he blushed, "it's your fault they all found out about me. If you hadn't been trying to push yourself on me I wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"It's not my fault you're irresistible, Ken. The one you should be blaming is yourself. That cute smile," Koshi ran his thumb over Ken's mouth, "that beautiful body," he slid his arms around Ken's waste and began to pull him towards him again, "that..."

"That's enough," Yohji interrupted, pulling Ken away. "Ken said he wasn't interested, now leave." 

Ken stared at Yohji in disbelief. _He must've learned something while he was spending all that time with Aya. _Ken gave a sigh of relief as Koshi retreated. "Thanks Yotan, Koshi doesn't know when to lay off." To himself he muttered, "None of them do."

"Are you having trouble with the team Kenken?" Yohji led the other man over to a small round table near the side of the building, ten feet away from the bar.

"Everything was fine until Koshi started coming onto me after practice one day. Everyone on the team knows about Koshi, he's probably the sluttiest person I've ever met. Anyhow, he wouldn't leave me alone and pretty soon the rest of the team started talking, thinking maybe Koshi was right and I was in the market," he grimaced, "they actually used that term, you know, like I'm some piece of meat to be bought. Bakas. Well, then some others started in and not all of them were as bad as Koshi, so I went and hung out with some of them, like we did before the mess started." He shrugged and hailed a passing waiter. "Can I get a club soda?" The waiter leered at him and nodded, then turned to Yohji, who smiled, nodded, and waved him off. 

"He's one of my usual waiters, I don't need to order," Yohji said, taking in the perplexed look on Ken's face. "Please continue."

"So I thought we were just hanging out, but apparently they were having other ideas and..." Ken trailed off.

"Did they hurt you?" Yohji's voice was calm and deadly. It was the voice Balinese used right before a kill.

"No, nothing like that. It's just that the team used to be a family, we had fun and goofed off and now they're all fighting and mad at eachother, or grossed out at eachother and it's all my fault."

"No," Yohji corrected. "It's Koshi's fault, he shouldn't have pestered you like that, he had no right. Want me to kill him for you." Though the offer was a serious one, Yohji smiled as he said it, knowing Ken would take it as a joke.

"Iie, we need him if we're going to win the Cup." Ken laughed, his bright smile returning just as the waiter arrived with their drinks; a club soda for Ken and a martini for Yohji. They drank in a calm silence and Ken began to relax. "Come on Yohji, let's get out of here, Koshi'll come back soon. He's relentless."

"And we didn't even get to dance," Yohji sighed, looking at the dance floor with longing.

"We'll come back some other day Yotan, I promise. Can we please just go?" Ken turned his large pleading gaze to Yohji, who caved in immediately. 

"Hai, Kenken, we'll go now. There's a light show down at the beach tonight, how bout we go see that? We can hide in a tree and escape all the drooling fans." The blonde stood up and offered his hand to Ken, who took it with a smile.

"Arigatou Yotan, I owe you one." Yohji could only smile back at the slight squeeze Ken gave his hand. This was bliss.

AN: There, I gave you some blatant fanservice, I hope you enjoyed it. As for myself, I am continually trying to find a plot in all of this and failing miserably. Sorry about taking so long to update, I've got a Ranken thing I'm working on that's about 50% done, will probably be out by the time KW4 is posted. In the meantime, read and review if it suits you to and I'll see you next time!


	4. One Man Mission

Kon'nichi wa Minna,

Okay, okay, here it is! It's not as good as it could be, but it's moving things along and, hopefully, delaying my demise. I apologize for how long this has taken, but I've been uber busy lately. You know how it is.

I'm just going to take a moment to tell you all how grateful I am to my reviewers for sticking with me, even when it takes a while for me to post the next chapter. (I'm trying, I really am!) Okay, now for the necessary evils:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Weiß, though I wouldn't be adverse to inheriting them.

WARNING, ETC: If you are not into yaoi or shonen-ai, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not enjoy blatant fanservice, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not like humor, you will not enjoy this fic. Do not read it. If you do not like bishounen, you are a freak. Go away. 

The Koneko Wars

By: Whisper

Chapter 4: One Man Mission

Yohji entered the Koneko humming and grinning like a fool, at least that was Aya's observation as the blonde came in, two hours late for his shift. "You're late." The winter of Aya's voice couldn't chill the smile off of Yohji's face.

"Are you surprised?" the wire-wielding assassin laughed, trotting over to take his apron off of it's hook. True, he hadn't seen any action with Ken last night, but he had managed to sneak an arm around him while they watched the light show, Ken too enraptured with the color display to notice until it was too late. Yohji's grin widened at the memory of Ken smiling and leaning into his arm, watching the children play around in the park until their parents took them home.

"Ohayo Yohji-kun!" Omi chirped as he came into the shop from setting up the sidewalk display.

"Good morning bishounen, did you sleep well? I know I did." Yohji waggled his eyebrows at the youth and cast Aya a smug grin.

"Get to work Kudou," the redhead snarled. Yohji felt Omi tugging on his sleeve and looked down to see the youth nodding toward the street. Yohji obediently followed, pulling out a cigarette. "What is it?"

"Aya-kun's been awfully moody this morning, don't do anything to upset him, we're supposed to have a mission tonight. Manx phoned and said she'd be over at noon. I have to go to class so tell Ken-kun when he comes in for his shift, ne?"

Yohji took a drag from his cigarette and lazily exhaled. "Hai, I'll let him know." _How wonderful, an opportunity to talk to Ken and I didn't have to come up with it. Maybe I'll even be paired with him on the mission._ Another drag. _Ah, this is the good life; a cigarette, fresh morning air, and Ken within my grasp._

*******

Inside the shop Aya was planning several painful ways to kill one Yohji Kudou and snapping several flower stems in the process. In an hour Ken would be down to begin his shift, at that point Aya would have one hour to secure a date before Manx came and delivered their mission. Though no smile graced his lips, Aya's eyes twinkled in conspiratorial glee. He'd called in one of several favors Manx owed him and had secured Ken as his partner on the mission. They would be the strike team, Yohji and Omi would be backup. Before Aya had time to be too smug, Ken came racing through the door.

"I'm not coming in today!" he said through sobs, dashing through the door that lead into the back stairway. 

"Kudou, watch the shop," Aya said, dropping bits of flower onto the floor and walking purposefully after the brunette. Aya strode through the kitchen and up the stairs to Ken's room, opening the door without bothering to knock. Ken would just tell him to go away anyhow.

"Go away!" came the muffled cry from the vicinity of Ken's bed. 

Despite his concern, Aya couldn't help but smile. _So adorably predictable. _Schooling his expression, he approached Ken, who had thrown himself down on the bed in a fit of despair. "Ken." Aya set a hand to Ken's shoulder. 

"Aya?" Ken sniffled, turning to face the redhead, a beacon of calm in the maelstrom of his despair. 

"What's the matter Ken?" Aya stuck to tried and true dialog, not wanting to sound too detached but unwilling to show the true extent of his emotions.

"N...nothing." Ken was blushing. _How am I supposed to tell Aya that Shinichi broke up with me? He doesn't even know I had a boyfriend. He doesn't even know that...God Aya, please just go away. _

"Ken." Aya insisted, sitting down on the side of Ken's bed. "Tell me what's wrong, Ken, I won't say anything to anyone. My word." A pale hand slid from Ken's shoulder down to clasp his arm in reassurance. Aya took in the warm, silky feel of the younger man's skin, the way it seemed to burn his own flesh at contact, like touching the sun itself.

"Sh...Shinichi broke up with me," Ken cried, tightening his grip on the pillow his face was still buried in. 

"Did he say why?" Aya's voice was quiet and calm though he was, in actuality, devising several creative ways to end Shinichi Igarashi's life. _We told him to wait until tryouts, he is ruining my plans._ The "plan" had been to seduce Ken away from Shinichi so that, when Shinichi broke things off with Ken, the brunette would be rejoicing, not weeping forlornly into a now soggy down pillow.

"He...he said that he didn't want our relationship to influence his performance in League if he were accepted." Ken took great heaving breathes, turning his head to face his teammate and gain air before the pillow suffocated him. In the small silence that followed, Ken took a moment to marvel at how gracefully Aya was handling the situation. _He's not prying, or acting disgusted, or leaving me. _Ken sighed. _At least I still have my friends._

"He is not worth your time. Anyone who would toss your feelings aside so carelessly is not fit to breathe." Aya looked into Ken's eyes, softening his expression to show that his words were heartfelt. The pale assassin squeezed Ken's arm and allowed a bit of a smile to flash across his features. "Don't let his poison taint your heart, Ken, you're worth so much more than that." Aya's other hand ran through Ken's scattered hair, endeavoring to tame the wild locks. In the midst of all this Ken lay frozen on the mattress, lost in Aya's tender gaze. "Manx will be over with a mission in two hours. If you like I can brief you later so you can rest."

"But I have to work." It was the only coherent thought Ken could manage at the moment, but it worked as a base to build others upon. Slowly, he regained his wits.

"Yohji owes me two hours from this morning and I can cover after that. For now, rest. I'll be in the shop if you need me." Aya got up, untangling his hand from Ken's hair and giving his arm a final pat before heading to the door.

"Aya?" Ken asked, his voice still hoarse from crying. Aya turned and looked expectantly at the brunette. "Thanks." Ken was rewarded with a dazzling smile.

"You're welcome. Thanks for listening." was the quiet reply just before Aya slipped out of the door. Ken lay back on his bed, feeling significantly better. It still hurt that Shinichi had just let him go so carelessly, but things weren't so bad, Ken mused, he had friends who were willing to help him. Ken grinned at the memory of Aya's smile. _Any time you want, Aya._

*******

Omi gawked as Aya helped one of the regulars in the shop. Usually, the moody assassin would yell at the girls and tell them to leave, but today he was being polite, even agreeable. Yohji, on the other hand, was sulking near the cash register, telling everyone under 18 to leave the shop and not return until they were of age. Sighing, the youngest member of Weiß went over to the tall blonde and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Yohji-kun, you don't have to stay those extra two hours, I can manage until Aya-kun comes back."

"Yohji will stay and cover the two hours he missed this morning." Aya's voice frosted over the shop and the girl he was helping shrunk back.

"Arrogant asshole," Yohji muttered under his breathe.

"Where's Ken-san?" Megumi asked, trotting into the store. Behind her, a throng of Ken's followers waited expectantly to see their bronzed god.

"He's not feeling well today," Aya said, stepping towards Megumi, endeavoring to remember that it wasn't her fault that her brother was an idiot. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Instantly Ken's fan club swarmed around Aya, requesting bouquets to be delivered to their infirmed Adonis.

"What's wrong?" one girl asked, frantic.

"How long is it going to last?"

"Is he in pain?"

"It's a 24 hour bug, he should be better tomorrow," Aya replied, doing his best not to scream. "Omi, some help please."

"Hai Aya-kun," Omi said with eyes wide- he'd never heard Aya say more than a forced sentence, and none of them ever ended in "please." Between Aya and Omi's efforts, Ken's fans were dispersed in short order and the Koneko had had a wonderful sales day. As the last of Ken's club left and the Koneko was about to close for lunch, a familiar pair of red pumps and white socks came into view.

"Manx!" Yohji chirped, straightening his slouch and donning his "Kudou charm." 

"You have a mission," Manx said, walking in and heading towards the mission room.

"And here I thought you'd come to accept my offer for a date," Yohji put a hand to his heart. "Manx, I'm crushed."

Manx gave Yohji a glare then smiled. She knew his passes were only for show, she'd trailed him to the Onyx Room one night, and caught him dancing rather intimately with one of his conquests. "You'll just have to hunt down some other lucky girl after your mission Balinese." Looking around, Manx frowned. "Where's Siberian?"

"Sick." Aya replied, leaning against the wall, waiting for Manx to play the mission tape. "I'll brief him later."

Manx arched a red brow at the comment, knowing full well how Aya wanted to "brief" Ken. "Let's get started, then." She popped the tape into the VCR and observed the three assassins in the room as they watched the tape, noting that Yohji seemed more high strung than usual and that Aya was almost...happy. Manx sighed and turned off the tape.

"I'm in," Aya said, a grim light washing over his features.

"Me too." Omi's voice was haunted.

"Same." Yohji's fists were clenched, his fingers reaching for wire that wasn't there.

"I thought that was the case." Manx watched Aya out of the corner of her eye. "I want Abyssinian and Siberian to take the target out. Balinese, Bombay, I want you to wash out the perimeter and make sure no personnel are left alive. Are we clear?"

"Aa."

"Hai."

"So, Manx, about that date...."

Manx ignored Yohji's comment and collected her things. "Good luck Weiß."

*******

Ken and Aya were crawling through a ventilation shaft and Aya was having difficulty keeping his mind on the mission and off of Ken, who was crawling in front of him. If there were to be a conflict when they emerged, Ken's weapon was better suited to defend them quickly. Suddenly Ken stopped and pointed down, indicating that they were above the target's office. Aya's muscles tensed in anticipation of the kill, his adrenaline rising. He wondered if Ken felt the same way.

"Commence mission," Aya whispered into his earpiece. Moments later an explosion was heard outside, giving him and Ken the distraction they needed to lower themselves out of the vent and into the office shadows. Aya drew his katana and ran at the target while Ken quickly disposed of the target's supposed guards. It was a quick job and their orders were simple; kill everyone and level the building. Outside, Aya knew that Yohji and Omi were fairing well with external cleanup, there were only a few extraneous individuals outside the building anyhow.

"Target down, Abyssinian and Siberian are making their way to the check-in point," Ken called into his ear-com before flipping it up away from his mouth. "Come on, let's get out of here so Omi can detonate."

"Aa." Aya debated his next move as they walked down the halls, still on alert for any personnel that had been missed on their sweeps of the building. "Ken," he said finally.

"Hm?" Ken asked, wondering why Aya wasn't referring to him by his code name.

"I'm hungry, would you like to join me for something to eat?" Aya scowled at his poorly given invitation.

"Sure." Aya was rewarded with a quick smile from Ken, before the brunette's eyes were lost to Siberian and the assassin raced forward towards the suited figure trying to run out of the building.

*******

Ken and Aya sat at the diner, waiting for their drinks to come and glancing over the menus. "Have you heard from Aya-chan recently?" Ken asked as he looked back and forth between the pictures of the chicken fried steak and the double cheeseburger.

"She called me last night." Aya closed his menu-- he was having the caesar salad.

"And?" Ken prompted, leaning onto his right arm, his chin resting on his palm as he gazed expectantly at his companion.

Aya allowed a small smile to show at Ken's concern for Aya-chan. "She's having difficultly in Chemistry and she believes her principle is an alien."

Ken broke out into unrestrained laughter, his face falling to the table as his body shook. "Looks like the Fujimiya rationalism has skipped over her." he said once he had composed himself. "Or do you grow into it?" The waitress came and placed Aya's iced tea and Ken's cherry Coke on the table. "Double cheeseburger," Ken said, smiling up at the girl.

"Caesar salad, extra croutons," Aya ordered, handing both his and Ken's menu to her. A few quiet moments passed before Aya spoke again. "When Aya-chan told her friends she knew you she grew in popularity. It seems your fan base extends quite a bit."

"Wow," Ken whistled around his straw. An electronic rendition of the Pink Panther theme cut off any further conversation. "Moshi moshi," Ken said into the cell phone, a Nokia with a soccer ball covered faceplate. "Aa." Ken looked over to Aya, who quirked an eyebrow at him. "Iie, Shin-kun, you're not forgiven. If you wanted lessons you could've just asked and not played with my emotions. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm busy." Ken turned off his phone and threw it against the cushion of the booth before burying his face in his hands.

"Ken," Aya whispered, putting a hand to Ken's arm and giving a light squeeze. "We can get the food to go if you want." Ken looked up from his hands, his eyes full of tears that threatened to fall from quickly reddening eyes. Silently he nodded. Aya hesitated a moment then, after a deep breathe, he spoke again. "If...if you like, we can go to my room and talk." A short pause. "If you think it would help." 

Ken's expression brightened at the unexpected offer. "Hai, arigatou Aya-kun."

Aya's face went serious for a moment and he idly stirred his iced tea. "Ran," he said finally. "Before the... accident, my name was Ran." Without another word he stood to find the waitress and have her change their meals to takeout. The ride back home was silent.

FROM WHISPER: *dodges tomatoes* Gomen, gomen, it's not quite as good as it should be and doesn't exactly end in a convenient place, but if I promise shameless fanservice in the next chapter will I be forgiven? *down on knees* Please?


	5. The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Kon'nichi wa, Minna-san!

Well, I worked as fast as I could and, though this section isn't particularly long, it does have the promised fanservice. As always, a big hug to my reviewers, who still haven't killed me. *sounds of Whisper rejoicing*

I have decided that every chapter until this fic ends, assuming this insanity ever _does_ end, I will grant one fanservice request from my reviewers. **Laura B this one's for you! **Amidst all of the Ranken fans, Laura B has stood up for the Yoken cause. As a reward for her bravery, I dedicate this chapter's fanservice to her. *bows* Thank you for your support Minna!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Weiß, if I did, then the character designs for WK: Gluhen wouldn't be so funky. (Sorry, minna, I'm having some issues with Ken looking like Birman. Don't worry, you'll hear my rant about it later. For all those interested, check out Koyasu's homepage: http://www.koyasutakehito.com.)

WARNING, ETC: Do you remember in the beginning when I gave you the warning about the forthcoming yaoi content? Well it begins here. This fic is rated "R" for a reason, folks. Now, if you don't like the thought of two bishounen snogging eachother, then you need leave, I will not be responsible for any neuroses or fetishes that might occur from reading this fanfic.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 5: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Yohji grinned to himself as he sat between Ken and Ran, watching the French film Aya had chosen. He had been trudging wearily up to his room when Ken and Aya had come home and made their way to Aya's room. It hadn't taken long to get Ken to invite him to their mini film festival and the scowl Aya shot him behind Ken's back was something the blonde would cherish for the rest of his life. Yohji was very aware of how much ground Aya was covering, and fast, if he was going to stand any chance against the redhead he was going to have to start playing dirty. Yohji quietly slipped his hand onto Ken's knee and left it there, a lazy movement that Ken would pay no heed to. Aya caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and scowled before smacking Yohji's leg to get his attention. Yohji replied with a grin and a raised eyebrow then moved his hand up Ken's leg to rest on his thigh. Aya grunted then slid down into his corner of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for the moving to be over so he could kick everyone out and brood in peace.

*******

Ken sat on his bed, wondering what was going on with his life. _Aya's been acting weird, so has Yohji._ He rolled onto his stomach, endeavoring to get comfortable. _Not that I'm complaining, it's great having true friends, people I can rely on. They don't use me like Shinichi did. _Ken fell asleep before his thoughts could grow darker.

*******

"Nice job on the mission there Aya," Yohji snarled. The moment Ken had left, he had rounded on Aya and was proceeding to give him a piece of his mind.

"It was a simple job," Aya replied, choosing to feign ignorance.

"So simple it took you _and _Ken to complete it. How much did you pay Manx to pair you two? I never thought you'd stoop so low." Though, truth be told, Yohji was wondering why he hadn't come up with the plan himself.

"Who Manx chooses to pair us up with on missions is not under my control, nor would I jeopardize a mission in order to one up you." Aya told the lie with practiced ease. He was a block of ice, as smooth and powerful as a glacier and just as beautiful.

"Oh pardon me, I forgot what a paragon of virtue you were." Yohji stalked out of the room, slamming the door.

*******

Yohji's body twisted around his sheets as he slept, small mewling sounds escaping from his mouth every now and then as he was lost in the sweet ecstasy of his dream.

_Yohji advanced upon the temple slowly, not knowing what awaited him. The construct was beautiful with large golden pillars supporting the triangular roof, reflecting the sun as it sat at it's zenith. When he reached the temple stairs Yohji paused, doubting his decision to enter the great temple. He was a cobbler's son and, though he was wearing his best garments, they we certainly not good enough to be entering such a divine space. But he had sworn to his father, who lay infirmed in their humble cottage, that he would petition the gods on his behalf. Resigned, Yohji entered the temple._

The view before him was even more splendid than the temple's exterior. A flowing fountain sprang up in the center of the room and flowed out into channels that ran on either side of the room, giving water to the grape plants that lined the walls, crawling up golden trellises. With his head bowed he walked further into the room, occasionally looking up to ensure that he wasn't going to run into something. When he finally reached the platform at the end of the room he looked up to behold his father's chosen deity. The bronze statue before him showed a man with a bright smile and a beautiful body clad only in two squares of leather held on by string that tied at either of his hips. The figure was seemingly caught mid-motion, appearing to be running somewhere. Yohji's eyes remained glued to the figure, not knowing why there weren't thousands of men....and women he grudgingly remembered, lining up to view the bronzed god.

"Beautiful," he whispered, closing his eyes in an attempt to refocus on his task.

"Thank you," a cheery voice replied, yanking Yohji from his efforts to remember his infirmed father and forget the growing discomfort between his legs. Turning to face the voice Yohji fell to his knees when he saw the statue had assumed a human form. "Get up, get up," the god prompted, walking over to the petitioner.

For a long moment Yohji remained on the ground, staring at the bare foot that had peeked into his vision. Slowly his gaze rose, taking in the strong calves, powerful thighs, toned abdomen, and bright smile of the god who stood before him. "H...hai," Yohji stuttered, raising to his feet and biting back that comment that he already was up. Quite noticeably up. 

"Don't be shy, you're safe here," the god husked, raising a hand to stroke Yohji's cheek. Slowly he moved forward, encircling the blonde's waist in his tanned arms. "It took a lot to get you here, you know. It's really rude of you to not visit the patron of your city." A hand slid down and rested against Yohji's lower back while the other moved up to run along his spine playfully.

"Please forgive men," Yohji pleaded through breaths that were becoming more and more hurried. A tongue flicked across his ear.

"Are you willing to prove how sorry you are?" the god whispered, slipping his hand from Yohji's lower back to cup the man's firm ass, squeezing idly at the flesh that rested under the obtrusive garments.

"Uh huh," Yohji grunted in reply, feeling the god move closer to him, brushing against his feverish erection with a slow but heavy motion of strong hips. 

"Come with me," the god with sun-kissed skin instructed, removing his hands from their playground with lingering regret, moving towards one of the grape bushes. When Yohji arrived at the god's side his hands were immediately seized and brought to the ties that held the god's only covering in place. "Go ahead, Yohji." A golden hand reached out and plucked a bunch of grapes from the tree and the god proceeded to lick the bunch, occasionally pulling a grape into his mouth as he waited for Yohji to do as instructed. Hesitantly, Yohji's fingers began to undo the ties...

Unidentifiable classical music shocked Yohji awake from the bliss of his dream. He grabbed the offending machine and yanked it out the wall then threw it against the door. "Goddamn piece of crap," he growled at the alarm clock which had, much to his dismay, survived it's beating. With the alarm out of the way, Yohji settled back into his bed, hoping to return to his interrupted dream. Unfortunately, he found his condition in reality to mirror that of his dream and decided that a shower and a little self-love were in order. Grumbling, he made his way to the bathroom, his nude body hidden under a black silk robe.

"Morning Yohji," Ken chirped, causing the blonde to nearly trip on his own feet. "What're you doing up this early?"

Yohji was at a loss for words as he stared at Ken exiting the steamy-filled bathroom in a pair of jeans with a towel slung around his neck. "Morning shift, shower, dirty," Yohji replied.

Ken laughed at Yohji's verbal ineptitude. "Go take your shower, you're no good to talk to in the morning!" Ken padded down the hall then turned back to Yohji, who hadn't moved. "Oi, Yotan, you need to walk in order to get to the bathroom. I'll make some coffee while you're showering."

Yohji trudged into the bathroom that still held the lingering scent of Ken and inhaled the beautiful scent deeply. _This_ was why he got up for morning shifts when he had them with Ken, the opportunity to touch and taste the aroma of the prize that waited him when Aya was defeated. His very own bronzed god.

*******

Yohji hummed pleasantly as he went about his work in the shop, every now and again casting Ken a smile and a wink, though always making sure that no customers saw him. All his mirth drained when an unwelcome figure entered the store.

"Hey Kenken, you coming to help with tryouts next week?" Koshi Otani sauntered up to Ken's side and slung an arm over his shoulder.

Ken faltered for a moment. _I completely forgot about tryouts...I can't...Shinichi will be there._ "Iie," he replied finally as he shrugged off Koshi's overtures. "Might as well give Tomohiro some time in the net."

"And take him away from the fullback line, are you crazy? He's your right-hand man on the field, you two are unstoppable! You have to let those rookies know what they're up against. We're up for the Cup this season Ken, we can't afford to draft weaklings."

"I'll be there for final cuts, like I always am. Let Tomo week out the first few batches, then we'll see which ones are overconfident." _Shinichi shouldn't make it through third cuts, fourth cuts at best. This way, I won't have to see him._

Koshi saw the tension lines on Ken's brow and grew concerned. "Ken, something wrong? That Shinichi kid do something to piss you off?" 

"Everything's fine," Ken replied gloomily, wishing that Yohji would ride to his rescue again. Unfortunately the blonde was listening to their conversation and finding nothing wrong with Koshi's questions. Truth be told, he was amazed at the concern the soccer player was showing for Ken. Perhaps he wasn't scum after all.

"Say the word and the kid will never play in this country. Just say the word, Ken." Koshi had taken hold of Ken's arm and was refusing to let go.

"That's not fair Koshi, he deserves a chance."

"Fuck fair Ken, nobody messes with our teammates, especially with you. You're our star Ken and you've kept us together like no single player ever has. You tolerate me, you gave Tomo direction, you helped Satoshi with his marital problems-- the team would have fallen apart without you and none of us will stand to have some rookie on the team who doesn't know how to respect how wonderful you are." Koshi let go of Ken's arm and turned to leave the shop. "Besides, I hate competition." With a wink to Yohji, Koshi trotted out of the store and out into the busy streets.

_Scum_, Yohji growled in his mind, his eyes following Koshi out the door. _Observant scum, but still scum._

NOTES FROM WHISPER: Okay, so how was that? Fanservice-y enough to last until the next installment? Now remember, if you make a fanservice suggestion there's a good possibility that it will be the one pulled out of the Yaoi Randomizer of Doom and placed in the next chapter. See you next time!


	6. Strike, Counterstrike

Kon'nichi wa Minna!

Well, I figured you were all getting pretty tired of waiting so I went with the tried and true Whisper Reilman "Post Whatcha Got" method. Works most of the time. There isn't nearly enough fanservice here and this chapter didn't come out nearly as fast as it should have. Blame the sinus infection I had and the general ickiness that is....school...and work....together. Bleh. We'll try to do better next time. Until then, enjoy the fic.

****

Today's fanservice is dedicated to Yoippari. Smile, the Yaoi Randomizer of Doom loves you!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Weiß, I'm not that lucky.

**__**

Warning, Etc: I'm putting this here for those of you who don't understand what ratings are for. This fic is not intended for children, unless said children have been told that it is okay for them to read stories that contain two or in some instances three men in very compromised positions. If you don't understand what I just said, then you need to leave. If you do not enjoy yaoi, shonen ai, or anything of that bent, you need to leave. Thank you and have a nice day.

No, I'm not agitated by recent changes in the rules. Not at all. 

Koneko Wars

Chapter 6: Strike, Counterstrike

NOTE: Aya has revealed his true name and thus, from here on out, shall be referred to as Ran. Why? Cuz we want All the Ran we Can! Gomen....got carried away there. We now join our fic already in progress.

Ran stalked into the Koneko clad all in black save for his pale orange apron- a gift from his imouto. The sun was shining outside, the flowers were permeating the air inside, but none of it mattered because Yohji was hovering behind Ken, giving the athlete fleeting caresses along his sides. "Kudou, did you finish the order list from yesterday?"

"All set and being delivered by Omi as we speak." Yohji couldn't hide his smug grin at the flash of confusion that washed over Ran's face. "Kenken's working on our last order for today, then we'll be done." Yohji gave Ken a quick hug, causing the brunette to squeak in surprise. "Don't we just make the perfect team?" Luckily, Ken didn't see Yohji stick his tongue out at Ran.

"Ran could you give me a hand with this arrangement? This stupid girl wants white daisies and red roses together and I can't get it to look right." Ken turned around and held out the failed arrangement with a pout.

"Ran?" Yohji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Get back to work Kudou, the back room needs sweeping." Ran took the arrangement from Ken and set it back on the table, quickly removing all of the daisies. "Your problem is that you put the daisies in first," he told the brunette after he heard Yohji close the door to the stockroom. "The roses you picked are particularly beautiful and should be the focal point." Ran reached out and took Ken's hand, bringing it to the display. "Now, put the roses where you want them, we'll move on from there." As Ken stepped up to the arrangement Ran let his hand linger for an extra moment before releasing the bronzed digits.

"She says it's just for a teacher, so what do you think I should do? Symmetrical?" Ken pulled all the de-thorned roses from the floral foam and contemplated the green block.

"Teachers live in order, perhaps all they want is a moment of chaotic passion to make the day special." Ran's words were whispered into Ken's ear as his hand snaked around to pick up a rose. "The day begins here, in the center, with all things balanced." He stuck the rose in the exact center of the block, then let his hand retreat back out of Ken's view. "Now, normally the day would branch out in a straight line, inevitably ending at the center again. But what would you want the day to bring?"

Ken froze at Ran's words, taking a moment to ponder over them. "I would want love," he replied after some thought.

Again Ran's hand slid out holding another rose. "Would it be proper love?" he asked, placing a rose perfectly vertical in the upper right of the block. "Or would it be more unbridled?" His other hand emerged and stuck a rose diagonally into the block, slanting away from the other two. Now Ran's arms rested on either side of Ken's body, his hands still touching the roses. "Or did you have something else in mind?" Slowly his hands and arms retreated from around Ken and he moved around the workbench until he was across from the shocked brunette. "You still have three left."

With a shaky hand Ken picked up a rose, his eyes focused on Ran's clear amethyst eyes. "I would want dedication," he said at last, placing a rose vertically in line with the other two "proper" roses. With the rose in position, his gaze fell back on Ran. "But I would want passion and adventure." Taking a rose in either hand, he placed them slantwise into the foam.

"Now, all you need to do is fill in with daisies and this teacher will have her heart's desire. I must tally the register before lunch." Without another word, Ran walked off to the cash register, producing a pair of reading glasses and a silver pen from his apron pocket. Diligently he set to work updating the store's records.

Ken threw the daisies into the foam and set the arrangement aside with a great sigh. Today had been one large sensory overload. He'd come into the shop with Yohji this morning and, though the blonde's familiar touches had never bothered him before, they seemed to be more frequent and a little more insisting. Of course Ken knew that Yohji held a mild interest for him, the blonde had made that much clear when they'd gone out to the Onyx Room, but the fact that Yohji seemed to be taking this attraction seriously was causing Ken to re-evaluate his relationship with his teammate. On the soccer team, Ken held a strict policy of non-interest after battling over the entire issue with Koshi, but what would happen were he to become involved with a member of Weiß?

What he'd told Ran in the shop hadn't been a lie, he wanted passion and adventure, but he wanted dedication too, and the oldest member of Weiß wasn't known for his staying power in relationships. _Now Ran has staying power_, he thought to himself as he went to retrieve a broom to sweep up stray petals and leaves near his workstation. _He's so dedicated to everything he does; the store, Weiß, his imouto. But he doesn't seem too passionate or adventurous. _He found it funny that the more he thought about a relationship with a member of Weiß, the less it bothered him. The only problem was that neither of the men he was taking a fancy to completely met his ideal and, truth be told, he was hard pressed to say which he preferred more, the dedication or the adventure.

*******

In the back room Yohji had laid down his broom and was fuming over the scene he'd just watched between Ran and Ken. _That damn redhead did it again!_ Twice now Yohji had been bested by Ran's quiet seduction and, truth be told, Yohji was amazed that Ran had it in him. Mr. Order himself was endeavoring to walk on the adventurous side, a side Yohji dominated with pride. _I don't think so._ Grinning to himself, Yohji called out into the shop, "Ken, can you help me with these damn soil bags, I almost fell over trying to carry one!" 

"Sure thing," Ken called, happy for a break from his confused reverie. He trotted into the back room and made his way towards Yohji and the pile of bags that needed to be hefted onto the shelves. "You sort 'em out yet? Omi ordered the organic soil and our usual stuff. He seems to think that the organic soil will help the geraniums, but I think that...." he trailed off as he felt two arms slide around his waist. "Yohji?"

"Shh, Aya will hear you."

"Ran," Ken corrected automatically, though his focus was beginning to slip as Yohji's hands began to move under his shirt, stroking his toned abdominal muscles.

"God you're beautiful Kenken," Yohji whispered in the athlete's ear before nibbling on the earlobe.

"Yohji, what if Ran comes in here." Already visions of a katana-wielding Ran were running through Ken's head, chasing away the desire Yohji was awakening.

"That's what makes it fun, Kenken. Knowing that he could come in here any minute," Yohji's mouth moved down from Ken's ear to trail along his neck. "You have to make every moment count, because it could be over at any time." Yohji stopped and sucked on the tender flesh of the dip between Ken's neck and shoulder, assuring that a mark would be left. _Mine. _Yohji was reveling in the smooth velvet of Ken's skin, using his hands to memorize every rippling muscle under it and every scar that marred it. Finally frustrated by Ken's obtrusive t-shirt, Yohji yanked it over the brunette's head and took a moment to marvel, once more, at the toned perfection before him.

Ken's legs were threatening to give out as Yohji trailed wet kisses across his chest, his tongue chasing every groove in the flesh, occasionally stopping to suckle on a nipple, though never long enough to satisfy Ken, who was endeavoring to control the quickening of his breathe. The sound of the door opening caused both men to freeze. 

"Yohji-kun, Ken-kun, Aya-kun said to hurry up and..."Omi trailed off as he took in Yohji hanging onto a shirtless Ken, both of them a curious shade of red. "Anou...I'll let Aya-kun know you're not done yet." The door was quickly shut and Ken sunk to the floor and buried his face in his hands.

"He's going to kill us," Ken whimpered, pulling his knees close to his chest and resting his hands and covered face on them.

"Don't worry Kenken, Omi won't squeal," Yohji slid gracefully to kneel next to Ken and whispered huskily into his ear. "He'll tell Aya that we're not done in the back room yet and Aya will think that we're slacking off." A hand made it's way to Ken's shoulder and began massaging it.

Ken sighed. "He's still going to kill us for slacking off." He shrugged off Yohji's hand and the blonde made a mental note to torture Omi at a later date. "Come on, let's get back to work." Ken grabbed his shirt, tossed the bags of soil onto the shelf, and headed back out into the store proper where Ran sat at the register, acting as if nothing had happened.

*******

The silence had been driving Ken crazy. All day he'd endeavored to explain things to Ran, somehow feeling the need to defend himself and protect the redhead's good opinion of him but, every time he tried to talk to Ran, the redhead ignored him or made some sort of noncommittal noise. Manx had arrived and rushed Omi and Yohji off on a small mission, leaving Ken alone in the house with Ran who, though he refused to talk, sat in the living room reading a book while Ken watched the Holland vs. Mexico game. The brunette would occasionally jump as he cheered, endeavoring to move closer to the redhead and procure the words of forgiveness he needed.

"Ran, why won't you talk to me?" Ken asked during a commercial. The game was in the third quarter and Holland, the team he was routing for, was down by two goals. 

Ran shrugged in response. 

Growling, Ken snatched the book from Ran's hands and threw it against the entertainment center. "Dammit I want you to talk to me and if I have to follow you around all night until you do then so be it." Ran shrugged again and got up from the couch to retrieve his book before heading upstairs. With an exasperated sigh Ken turned of the television and trotted after the redhead, following him into his room, slamming the door behind him. 

"Don't slam the door," Ran said, turning around with a small smile on his face- his plan had worked perfectly. 


	7. The Smell of Success, The Stench of Defe...

Kon'nichi wa Minna-san,

Okay, so you're not going to be particularly happy with me because 1) it took me forever to update and 2) this chapter is short...and I mean _short_. I've tried everything I can think of to get me out of this writer's block and it's not working, it only left for a few moments so I could add a bit of closure to this chapter-which-is-really-too-short-to-be-considered-a-chapter. However, I figured that, instead of waiting for me to write more, I'd give you what I've got to tide you over until this writer's block breaks, however long that will be. *sigh* I just don't really know what I'm doing with this fic, maybe I'll scrap it and write something new. At any rate, here's the next chapter, for better or for worse, for lemon or for lime, til computer virus do us part.

-Whisper

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Weiß I'd be so much cooler than I am now.

WARNING, ETC.: As much as I would've liked this to be a lemon, my muse has deserted me and so it only smells faintly of citrus and...well, other things that Yohji will divulge at the end of the chapter. *grins* This fic is and will continue to be of the yaoi bent and all those who are not keen on the idea have my blessings and encouragement to go read something else that is to their liking. That said, if you are still with me on this little fanfic journey of doom, I thank you and hope you enjoy.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 7: The Smell of Success, The Stench of Defeat

Ken awoke slowly and tugged the quilt away from his body before staggering out of bed. The past few hours of his life had been enough to drive him to drink.

__

The door closed and Ran turned to him, a smile playing at his lips. "Ran, what's going on? One minute you're the nicest guy I've ever met and the next you're an asshole." Ken dropped himself onto the corner of Aya's bed, glaring up at the still-smirking redhead. "And what's so funny?"

"Did you know that when you're angry your eyes change from brown to rust?" Ran asked, walking toward the brunette sitting tensely on the corner of his bed. "I don't think I've ever seen eyes like yours, Ken."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ken argued, his voice beginning to raise in volume. If there was one emotion Hidaka Ken did not handle well, it was confusion, and so far that day he'd been cornered and kissed by Yohji and ignored and smirked at by Ran. 

Ran shrugged.

"Will you stop that! You promised you'd talk if I listened and here I am, willing to listen and you're not goddamn talking!" Ken stood and took the two steps necessary to bring him face to face with Ran. "What's going on Ran? Why are you and Yohji always fighting now when you used to get along great?"

Ran brought a finger up to Ken's lips and quieted the brunette's questioning by running the pale digit over the velvet-soft skin. "Sometimes you talk too much, Ken." Quickly Ran replaced his finger with his lips, delivering a feather-soft kiss to the soccer player's slightly parted lips before parting with a wicked smile. "Did you know that a good cardiovascular workout is essential in any health routine?"

"Hai," Ken responded breathlessly.

"As an athlete you should take special care to work every major muscle group thoroughly." A hand trailed down Ken's spine then moved to caress his jean clad posterior, moving in small circles across the clothed flesh. "Of course, proper attire is needed for any sort of physical activity, that jersey of yours will have to go." Ran quickly grabbed the hem of Ken's jersey and yanked it over the shocked man's head then took a moment to marvel at the specimen before him.

"Ra....Ran, what are you doing?" Ken's hands trembled and his breath was coming faster. 

Ran leaned against the muscled chest presented before him and whispered in Ken's ear, "Remember to breathe properly Ken, we wouldn't want you hyperventilating." Ran's fingers traced lines up and down Ken's sides before coming to rest in the belt loops of faded blue jeans. Quickly, the redhead moved to unbutton Ken's pants as his mouth moved to trail a wet line along the former soccer player's collarbone. The brunette's moan escalated Ran's need to divest him of the obtrusive jeans and, with one swift pull, Ran pulled not only the jeans, but Ken's forest green boxers around his knees.

"Ken, you look like shit, did your team lose the game or did some sexy guy reject you?" Yohji's laughter cut through Ken's thoughtful haze and he was ripped from his reverie.

"Kudou, report on the mission." Ran's voice came from downstairs, strong and ever in control.

"Everything went fine Aya, now go drink some tea or something, you're in a horrible mood." Naturally, Yohji said this without looking down to see the grin plastered across Ran's features as he looked up and locked gazes with Ken, who stared back with a mixture of joy and fear.

"I'm okay Yohji, just a little worn out." Ken patted the taller man on the shoulder and made to move past him. "You might want to take a shower, you smell like a Taketori."

Yohji put a hand on Ken's bare chest and moved in close to him, inhaling deeply. "And you smell..." Yohji paused. Ken smelled like Aya, the distinct scent of the lavender linen spray Aya used clung to the pajama pants Ken wore which were, now that Yohji examined them about a size too small for the soccer player. Why was Ken wearing Aya's pajama pants? The blonde took in another deep breath and he could smell the last lingering bits of sweat and sex that clung to the brunette before him. "You smell like sex and Aya, Ken." Yohji quickly pulled back and headed down the hall to the nearest bathroom. He needed a shower to clear his thoughts and get the scent of sex and Aya out of his nostrils.

AN: So, all this chapter really was, was blatant fanservice. Not quite a lemon but oh so close I nearly pulled out my hair because I couldn't get it to go that extra mile so to speak. Again, if you have any thoughts on what might happen next I would be oh so grateful to be enlightened upon them otherwise I fear this might be the last chapter of Koneko Wars for a while as I let my muses run in whichever direction they lead me next. *ponders* Perhaps a serious fic...it would be a change, ne? Read and review if it suits you to and we'll see you some time other than right now!


	8. Free The Beast

Kon'nichi wa Minna!

Bet you didn't think you'd ever be seeing another part of this story, did you? Well, I got a little bit of help in redirecting my focus for the story *hugs Rae* and now I think we're making headway in kicking that Writer's Block off our back. *waves flag* For those of you who've been sticking with me and encouraging me, I can't thank you enough, you're the reason I kept trying to get this damn chapter out. But anyhow, on with the formalities.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything and even if I did I wouldn't tell anyone...too many fanservice requests, my mail box would always be full...not a pretty picture.

WARNING: If you haven't gotten the hint by now there's really nothing I can do to save you.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 8: Free The Beast

By: Whisper

"Okay you won, stop being so fucking smug about it," Yohji grumbled as he glared into his mug of coffee. Ken had yet to return from his morning jog and Ran was taking the opportunity to cast gloating smirks at the blonde whenever he looked up.

"He was so tight and smooth, Yohji, you would've loved it," Ran whispered into his ear just before Omi came down the stairs to the kitchen, bleary eyed and in search of breakfast.

"Shut the fuck up Aya and get the Hell away from me, I don't want to hear about how wonderful fucking Ken was." When he heard a gasp Yohji turned around and saw a dumbstruck Omi turn and run back to his room.

"Well done Kudou, you've shattered Omi's illusion of the perfect home, now you can go upstairs and explain things to him. Be back in time for your shift." Ran picked up a tray of food and turned toward the living room. "I'll just go wait for Ken to get home, I'm sure he'll be famished after his jog."

"Go fall on your katana you jackass," Yohji snarled, picking up his coffee and trudging upstairs to Omi's room. "Oi, bishounen, open the door," he called once he'd reached his destination. There was no answer so Yohji tried the doorknob. "Baka shonen, leaving the door unlocked when he's trying to hide. Oi, Omi!"

"Yohji-kun, I'm really busy right now." Omi could be heard rustling with something in his closet.

"Hey listen, what I said in the kitchen, just ignore it, okay?" No reply came. "Okay good, just wanted to make sure we're all on the level...have fun at school...bye." Yohji ran from the room as quickly as he could and went to the living room, hoping to spoil any plans that Ran had. When he arrived at his destination he found Ran lounging provocatively on the couch. "You look ridiculous Fujimiya," he chuckled, hoping he was convincing. "The pose looks too forced, your shoulders are tight and your leg will lose it's circulation before Ken gets back."

Scowling Ran adjusted his position. "Is that better?" he asked quietly, startling Yohji.

"What's going on Aya?" Yohji shoved Ran's legs off the couch and sat down, regarding the redhead with serious eyes.

"Nothing," the redhead snarled, moving to get up but Yohji grabbed his arm, hauling him back down.

"Game's over Aya, you won, now cut the shit and tell me what's wrong?" The lanky blonde winced at the admonition that he'd lost. _If Ken wants Aya then I can at least make sure Aya doesn't fuck this up._

"This isn't me," the redhead snapped. "All this posing and preening disgusts me. It's your style, Kudou, not mine." Uncertainty wavered in violet eyes and Ran looked away from the blonde's piercing emerald gaze, not wishing to see the contempt he was certain he'd see there.

"I'm home!" Ken's voice rang out from the entryway.

"We'll talk later," Yohji promised, clapping Ran on the shoulder. "Go say hi to Ken and give him a hug."

"I don't hug," Ran frowned, trying to embrace his ice once more.

"Love gets scary, Aya, just deal with it like you'd deal with a mission."

"Who said anything about love?" Aya growled, after seeing Ken head to the kitchen. 

"You'd never have gotten in this far if love wasn't involved Fujimiya, I know you better than that. You can build your little walls all you want but I'll tell you this; if you back out of this now I'll never respect you again and I'll be watching you, Fujimiya, you can be sure of that. If you break his heart I'll break your neck." With a flourish Yohji swept out of the room, grabbing his keys on the way.

With a sigh Ran lifted himself up off of the couch and headed toward the kitchen where Ken was busy making himself a sandwich. "Morning Ran," the brunette smiled, waving.

"Morning," Ran responded as brightly as he could, which is to say that he managed not to sound irritated but failed to sound pleased.

"What did Yohji do this time?" Ken asked, noting the lingering frown across the redhead's features.

"He's Yohji," Ran replied, smiling a bit.

"Come on, he's not a bad guy, he's just eccentric. You like having him around, admit it. Sandwich?" Ken buzzed around the kitchen like today was any other day, making a sandwich for himself, one for Ran who would be forced to eat something against his will, and one for Omi's lunch that would be done before the blonde boy came down in another fifteen minutes.

"No," Ran replied immediately, more out of habit than anything. In all truth, he'd been pacing about so much this morning that he'd awakened his appetite.

"Too bad, you're eating it," Ken smiled over his shoulder, wrapping Omi's sandwich in foil and placing it into his blue and red plaid lunch bag. "Say Ran, you wanna come play soccer with me and the kids this afternoon? I promised I'd go visit them and take their goalie aside for a bit and I need someone to supervise their scrimmage." After a long moment of silence in which Ran stood, stunned, Ken gulped and forced a smile. "Oh right, you probably have something planned, sorry."

"I'll go." Ran whispered, clenching his sweaty hands. "But I can't play."

"You know the rules don't you?" Ken asked, perking up. Ran nodded in the affirmative. "Then you're all set, all you need to do is referee, the kid's will understand if you don't play. Besides, I'll only be with Toru-kun for a bit then I can take over."

"Morning Ken-kun," Omi smiled as he bounded down stairs. The genki youth stopped at the bottom of the stairs when he saw Ran. "Good morning Aya-san," he greeted with less enthusiasm. Omi was by no means blind to the desires of his teammates and, if truth be told, he had a boyfriend that his teammates didn't know about, but the earlier fight between Ran and Yohji kept replaying in the blonde's mind and he couldn't help but feel a bit of animosity toward the redhead.

"Good morning Omi," Ran whispered, looking the youth in the eyes in as apologetic a manner as he could muster.

"Ken-kun, what's in my lunch today?"

"I made you a peanut butter and seaweed sandwich, put in some carrots, some Kirin coffee, and some Twinkies. Is that going to be good enough or do you want some money to get a snack on the way to school?" Casting a look at the kitchen clock Ken smiled. "There's time enough for Ran to make you some breakfast, sit down."

"I don't recall offering to cook," Ran shot back, his mouth half full of sandwich.

"That's because you had your mouth full," Ken smiled, "otherwise I'm sure you would have. Yohji picked up some eggs at the store yesterday, why don't you make Omi an omelette while I go shower?"

Stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and snarling, Ran walked over to the fridge and took out a carton of eggs. "Cheese and garlic?"

"Hai!" Omi replied, perking up. It wasn't often that Ran would cook breakfast but when he did it was always exceptional. Omi watched on in interest as Ran hurriedly mixed the omelette ingredients while the pan warmed up; it seemed he was making an omelette for everyone, even Yohji.

"Ne Aya-kun," Omi ventured as a steaming omelette was set before him. "You won't hurt Ken, will you?"

"Iie," the redhead replied, looking Omi directly in the eyes. "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, and call me Ran." Ran moved to the counter and picked up a plate bearing another omelette and walked up the stairs. "Kudou! Come and get your food before it gets cold and you're forced to eat your usual pig slop for breakfast!" Yohji hustled down the stairs and plucked the plate from Ran's hands, then frowned when he found no eating utensils on the plate. "Sit at the table like a civilized being for once," was Ran's reply as he sauntered down the stairs and placed a plate at Ken's place and one at his own.

"You should get the Best Housewife of the Year award, Aya, this is good." For his comment Yohji received a scowl and a chopstick between the eyes. "Tsk tsk Aya, don't play with your food, it's unbecoming."

"Kudou, you have twenty second to run," Ran warned, scooting his chair back.

"What did Yohji do this time?" Ken sighed, jogging down the stair in a pair of blue jeans and a towel wrapped around his neck. "Mmmm, smells good Ran."

"Ken, Ran threw his chopstick at me!" Yohji cried, scooting his chair closer to the brunette's. "Save me!"

"That's because you were teasing him, Yohji-kun," Omi replied, scraping the last bit of food off his plate and getting up to put it in the sink. "Time for me to go to school, everyone have a nice day and don't forget to repot the zinnias today Ken-kun!"

"No prob, I'll do it after I do my watering." Ken flashed a bright smile to the departing boy then turned his attention to his food.

*******

Ran stood on the soccer field watching a thousand children running around after a black and white ball- this was not the happiest moment of his life. One child had been upset when Ran'd called a foul on him and had kicked the redhead in his unprotected shins before throwing mud all over his orange turtleneck and yet another child had become upset that Ran'd _not_ called a foul and had jumped onto Ran's leg and commenced biting him through his black slacks, which were now far too stained to be of future use.

"Ran-niichan, Takuro-kun punched me!"

"Ran-niichan, he's lying, he's the one who punched me!"

"Ran-niichan, is it half time yet, I have to go the bathroom!"

"Ran-niichan..."

"Ran-niichan..."

Ran snarled and blew his whistle. "Half time!" he bellowed, nearly crushing the whistle in his grasp. Why weren't any of these children as well behaved as he was when he was a child? Didn't parents discipline their children to behave properly when in the presence of an adult? How in all Hell could Ken stand to be near these...these....things? Looking to the side Ran could see Ken standing near a tree, surrounded by fans that were demanding autographs and playing tips. With a grunt the redhead trudged through the disgustingly dirty field and over to Ken to save him. "Ken, these children have requested your presence on the field."

"Okay Ran, I'll be there in a sec!" Ken jumped up and down to gain eye sight with his friend over the nimbus of admirers. "Sorry guys, guess you'll have to come to our next exhibition game if you wanna talk, I usually hang around for a while. Bye!" Ken ran over to where the children sat, drinking water and laughing.

"Ken-niichan, Ran-niichan's sooooo cool, is he going to come with you next time too?" the child who'd kicked Ran in the shins asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. 

"I dunno. Ran?" Ken turned to the redhead for confirmation but found him frozen in shock. Was this not the child that had just called him everything short of an asshole, and that only for wont of vocabulary? Was this not the child that had sought to make his time as referee as miserable as possible? And this child wanted him to come back _again_ for more abuse? 

"Hai," Ran replied, disgusted at himself for giving in to the huge brown eyes that were silently pleading with him to placate the soccer loving children.

"SUGOI!" the children cheered, some of the jumping up to give Ran hugs around his legs, forcing a small smile to chisel into icy features. These children weren't too bad...for devil spawn. He could handle them one more time, after a few months had passed.

"Half-time's up!" Ken's voice boomed before he blew his green metal whistle. "Ran, you take that half of the field and I'll take this half." 

Ran walked onto the field and placed his whistle into his mouth, sure that this half of the game would be less stressful than the previous.

*******

"I hate those children," Ran informed Ken over dinner.

"Come on Ran, they're not that bad," Ken countered, adding some pepper to his ramen.

"That Takuro child broke my nose when I bent down to help him up after that..."

"Yosuke."

"...that Yosuke not only kicked him, but me as well." Ran speared at his ramen with his chopsticks but couldn't bring himself to eat anything. After that soccer match he felt sick to his stomach and was sure the delicate organ would revolt to eating this sludge.

"But the kids love you, Ran!" Ken pouted, a noodle dangling from the corner of his mouth. "Besides, you promised you'd come back with me tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I have to work in the shop tomorrow." Ran scowled down at his ramen before taking a bite. If he was sick to his stomach he had an excuse not to go.

"Yohji already told me he'd cover for you." Ken smiled brightly.

"Doesn't he have a date?"

"He canceled."

_I'll kill him_ Ran thought to himself. _He knew exactly what I was going to go through today and he's conspiring against me, making my life a living Hell because I won Ken. We'll see about that._ "The end of the month audit is coming, I have to begin balancing the books."

"If you don't want to go you can just say so," Ken folded his arms over his chest and glared at Ran.

"Of course I don't want to go, those children are agents of evil, I've never suffered this much damage in my life! Missions are tame compared to being on a soccer field with those little beasts."

"So you're saying you're afraid of them?" Ken laughed.

"I am not afraid of children."

"Prove it."

"Fine."

"Fine." Ken smiled in triumph as he watched Ran realize that he'd been tricked. "No taking it back, you're going with me tomorrow. I'll go make sure Yohji knows he's got to work. Night Ran!" Ken grabbed his dish of ramen and trotted upstairs to inform Yohji that his plan had worked, fishing in his pockets for the 2000 yen he owed the blonde. He should've known better than to make that bet.

A/N: So what did you think? Leave me a note to tell me what you thought of what you saw and what you think you want to see. Have fun until next time.


	9. Meddler on a Hot Grass Field

Kon'nichi wa Minna!

So it's been a while, I know, but I'm finally here with chapter nine of Koneko Wars. I was kind of sad to note the lack of review for the last chapter, but it was a pretty sucky chapter so I understand, more or less. *sniffs* I think you'll enjoy this chapter as we begin the next phase of KW's semi-plot.

DISCLAIMER: I used to own Weiß....then I woke up.

WARNING: Homophobic? Dislike Shonen ai? Don't read.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 9: Meddler on a Hot Grass Field

By: Whisper

Omi looked out over the gaggle of girls and a few boys in the shop and sighed. He was supposed to meet Nagi this afternoon, but Yohji had insisted that Ken and Aya needed some alone time and when Yohji was intent on something he could be rather persuasive...or conniving. The delicate rose stem that he'd just de-thorned snapped in his tight grip while the young blonde glared at Yohji, who stood in a corner talking to pretty girls and being useless. "Yohji, there are deliveries that need to be made, why don't you do them?" Omi's voice was cheerful to the outside observer, but the very fact that he was ordering Yohji around alerted the older man to the young assassin's agitation.

"Alas fair ladies I am...."

"Where's Ken?" a male voice asked, interrupting Yohji's carefully constructed speech. Instantly the crowd of girls moved toward Koshi Otani as he entered the store, smile radiating charm.

"He's not working today, we'll tell him you stopped by," Omi replied, walking up to Yohji and giving him the list of deliveries. "Better hurry up, Yohji-kun, we don't want these to be late." Omi halted when he noted the scowl on the playboy's face and the answering sneer on Koshi's. 

"Koshi-kun, can I have your autograph?"

"Koshi-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Koshi-kun, can I have your shirt?"

"Ladies, ladies, please," the soccer star smiled, raising his hands to fend off any more questions. Turning to the first girl he grinned and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "You know I only give autographs after games so this will have to do until then sweet lady." Turning to the second he seemed to contemplate her for a moment before adopting an earnest face. "I could never commit myself to one woman forever, I think that all of the traveling I do would only hurt a relationship in the end." Naturally what he refrained from saying was that he found women to be bossy, obnoxious, and far too clingy for his tastes. He preferred someone with broad shoulders and a strong voice, someone who could be a true partner on and off the field, someone like Ken. With a sigh Koshi looked to the last girl, his eyes holding a dreamy look as he continued to think of all Ken's merits. "If I give you my shirt, dear girl, I wouldn't have anything to protect me from the cold, but if you come to our exhibition game this Saturday and wait near the team exit I will be sure to see that you get a little something."

"Are you done?" Yohji called, the keys to the Seven in his hands. "If you're not going to buy anything I think you should leave."

"Yohji-kun you're sounding like Ran-kun!" Omi turned an apologetic smile to Koshi, unaware of the reason for Yohji's rude behavior. 

"Omi-kun, it's Thursday, where is Ken?" Megumi Igarashi's voice caused a silence to flow over the shop and all girls present fished through their purses to find their club cards, lest Megumi kick them out of the shop.

"Ken-kun's busy today, but I'll tell him you stopped by, Megumi-chan," Omi replied, becoming slightly agitated that the shop had turned into a Ken-Depot; soon they'd be selling Ken Club merchandise and autographs instead of flowers.

"That's two weeks in a row he's missed his Thursday shift," Megumi pondered, reaching into a panda backpack to get her personal planner. "By my calculations it's the first week of tryouts, which means he might be there, only Koshi-kun's here so that can't be it." As Megumi continued to prattle off possible places Ken could've gone, Yohji took a box of arrangements and left, Omi continued to work on his arrangement, and Koshi stared at the fangirl, dumbstruck; he had no idea that Ken's fans were so organized...or so crazed. "That means he must be coaching down at the park!" Megumi concluded, her checklist now complete. "Come on, minna, maybe he took his shirt off again!" In a matter of moments the Koneko was empty of all but a few fangirls as Ken's horde of admirers sped off down the street to find their idol.

"So, Omi, do you think..."

"He and Ran-kun went to the park to teach the kids," Omi said, absently waving Koshi out of the store. "Since the girls are gone I'm closing up early, see you later Koshi-kun."

*******

"Aya-kun, you're so cool!" came the chorus of cheers as Ran jogged down his half of the field, headed towards a downed player.

"Ken-kun, we love you!" cried Ken's contingent of fans, lined up on the other half of the field. Amidst Ken's fans stood Koshi who was not altogether pleased that Ken had ditched out on helping with tryouts to play soccer with a snooty redhead and some sniveling little brats.

"Ran-niichan, Ken-niichan, what are all these people doing here?" little Takuro asked, his wide blue eyes taking in the crowds. "What does that banner say, Ken-niichan, I can't read those characters yet."

"It says that Ran-niichan is going to buy ice cream for the winning team," Ken whispered.

"Sugoi! Arigatou Ran-niichan!" Takuro latched himself onto Ran's leg, squeezing for all he was worth while the redhead looked up to glare at Ken. "I want vanilla-chocolate swirl!"

"After Ken-niichan takes you out for pizza," Ran answered, a feral grin replacing his glare as Ken's jaw dropped and his eyes grew large and pouty.

"Ne, Ken-niichan, you and Ran-niichan are the best!" A chorus of "Hai" followed as the children circled Ran and Ken and began to sing "Pizza with Ken-niichan, Ice Cream with Ran-niichan, Soccer is Great!"

"We want ice cream too Aya-kun!!!" the redhead's fans cried, glaring at the little children who were privileged to touch the stoic man.

"Ken-kun, take us out for pizza too!" Ken's fans cried, dropping their banners and running up to the brunette, creating an outer circle around the chanting children.

"Ken, there you are," Koshi called, pretending to have just found his teammate.

"Koshi what's wrong, shouldn't you be at tryouts?" Ken asked, frowning slightly. The brunette wasn't nearly as dense as most people gave him credit for, he'd seen the tension between Yohji and Ran and had caught onto their game early on even though he chose to do nothing about it. Ken had been surprised at Ran's bold approach during the ordeal but there was an undercurrent of gentleness in the redhead that attracted Ken to him, just as there was a more tender, serious side to Yohji that intrigued him. Koshi however, was another matter entirely. From the moment Ken had joined the Japanese national team Koshi had viewed him as nothing more than an object of lust to be conquered and discarded. Kritiker knew exactly how well Ken took to being regarded as a means to an end.

"Coach sent me to tell you that you'll be needed at tryouts tomorrow, we've weeded out the rabble for you." Turning to Megumi, Koshi adopted a sad pout. "Your brother didn't make the cut hon, give him my condolences and tell him to try for the minors, a little more experience is really what he needs." Koshi refrained from mentioning that he had spoken with a few members of the team and had arranged to make Shinichi's tryouts an exercise in futility. If Koshi had his way, the man who dumped Ken would never play soccer professionally.

"Poor Shinichi, he was really hoping he'd get onto the team," Megumi sighed before perking up again. "Ne Ken-kun, are tryouts open for everyone to watch?"

_To lie or to tell the truth and be swarmed by idiots_ Ken thought to himself. "Hai." There were days Ken despised his penchant for always telling the truth. A cheer erupted from the girls and children as arrangements were made to create a "Ken Club" section at the soccer stadium. It was with a slightly heavy set to his steps that Ken followed Ran to the pizza house and ice cream parlor to treat the kids, dodge the fangirls, and ignore Koshi.

*****

"You told him where we were, didn't you?" Upon returning home Ran had politely excused himself, stalked up the stairs to Yohji's room and proceeded to express his ire at the day's events.

Yohji held up his hands defensively and backed away from the redheaded intruder, looking to get himself out of the agile man's reach. "I didn't tell him anything, if he found out where you were then either Omi told him or he followed the fangirls. _I_ was working today, Ran, I didn't have time to sabotage your little game of soccer." Sighing and letting his shoulders sag Yohji peered up to lock emerald eyes with burning violet orbs. "When are you going to get it through your head that I don't play dirty? I'm not going to wrestle Ken away and hand him over to Koshi to spite you, I'm not going to try and make Ken hate you, and I most certainly am not going to lock my door every night because I fear that you're paranoid that I'm trying to break you and your lover up so stop being an idiot and get over yourself."

"I will accept that."

"Koshi's a shark, Ran, I know the type. He'll try to snag Ken at games, detain him in the locker room, drag him to a club and liquor him up, then make his move. Ken knows what the slimeball's after and he won't fall for any of his tricks, don't worry." Yohji gave the shorter man a companionable pat on the back before opening his door to lead the man out. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to work the morning shift and Omi will skewer me if he has to open on a Friday by himself."

*****

Ken stood leaning against a goalpost while Coach Hamashiro explained the basics of the drill the team hopefuls would participate in. _They've gotten this far without doing this stupid, basic drill? They must've focused on defensive drills since I wasn't here._ The men were lining up in three lines at the halfway mark and would soon be coming down in teams of three, challenging the defensive line and endeavoring to get a shot past Ken. _Guess I could go a little easy on them this round, let a few past so they don't get too discouraged._

I wouldn't suggest that a highly accented voice echoed in the young athlete's mind. _The guy playing center is pretty determined to score. He figures if he scores on you then he's automatically in. _

_What are you doing back here, I thought you were staying in Germany?_ Ken had come across Schuldich during an away game in Germany and, while the first hour they spent together in a small club called "Kompressed" was less than friendly, they finally came to the realization that the grudge between Weiß and Schwarz was best left in the past, along with all the painful memories of the time.

_I got homesick._ The incredulity of the German's voice in his head made Ken snicker. The very thought of Schuldich pining away for his old apartment in Japan was one that Ken had never thought he'd entertain. _Yeah, laugh it up little kitty, we'll see if you're still laughing when that guy scores on you._

Ken's attention was riveted back to the men at the halfway line who were beginning their drill. With a sigh Ken left his comfortable perch against the goalpost and readied himself. _So, you think he'll get past the fullbacks easily?_

No contest, he's Hell bent on getting one past you, as I said before. Of course, I don't expect you to remember anything I say, I'm only always right. The center forward charged past the defensive line, making a break for the net. _He's going to go for the right corner._

_Liar he's going for the left, his left foot is already committed to the turn._ Ken smirked as his eyes followed the ball and his body leapt toward the sailing sphere. In a matter of seconds Ken held the soccer ball clutched to his chest as he rolled on the ground then jumped up to toss the ball back to midfield. _Always right, huh?_

_I was trying to trip you up, seeing if you're worth all the hype you've got. Your calendar for next year is very tasteful by the way, a lot less corny than this year's. _Ken's calendar for the present year was little more than a series of glamour shots that were hastily thrown together to market in time for the new year and the new calendar, full of shirtless sweat-shots and other fan-pleasing poses, was more a work of art than a calendar.

_What does that have to do with anything?_ Ken wiped some sweat from his forehead and stretched as he watched the defensive line take the ball away from the forwards. _God that guy's awful, why's he here?_

He's a good fullback. Great at defense, sucks at offense, kinda like a team of assassins I know. At some point during Ken's stay in Germany he and the Schwarz telepath had developed a loose form of friendship and, while Schuldich held a great amount of respect for Weiß, he constantly barbed the young soccer player into defending his teammates, if only to quietly marvel at the dedication he had to them. Weiß's unity was something that Schwarz had envied and endeavored to emulate though, in the end, Schwarz had simply reverted to their hierarchical structure instead of Weiß's 'teamwork.'. _So, how's the sexy redhead treating you? Is he being his assaholic self yet or has he decided to reserve that for the honeymoon?_

Ran's fine Schuldich, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know you care. How much longer is this going to take? Focusing on the drill for a moment, Ken caught a ball heading his way and observed the rotation at midfield. _Looks like we'll be doing this for another twenty minutes or so. Hey Schuldich?_

What do you want now? There was a pause as Schuldich scanned the brunette's mind a little harder. _How can you eat that slop and live? You're an athlete, shouldn't you be watching your figure? If you get fat then Ran's going to dump you...I'll be there before the drill ends. Oh, your fan club's about ready to arrive, I can sense Megumi's thoughts getting closer._

Where the Hell are you anyhow? Ken took a moment to look around at the stands and frowned as a flash of flame red caught his eyes. _You could've just come down near the field like any other civilized human being, you know. _

But Ran would see me, he's hiding down in section B directly below me. He does look awfully tasty when he's angry though. Anytime you want to share... 

Before Ken could retort his link with Schuldich was severed and he forced himself to return his attention to the drill, every now and then looking for Ran. _He's probably not even here, he's supposed to be working in the shop this afternoon with Yohji._

****

"Ran's going to die," Yohji grumbled to himself as the lunchtime crowd surrounded him. Omi had gone off to classes and left him alone to await Ran's arrival, an arrival that was two hours overdue. "If he's out at that soccer field instead of helping me in the shop I'm going to string him up to a tree, coat him in honey, and watch bears eat him alive."

_That's a little harsh, don't you think? If Ran wants to get some eye candy then I say more power to him. How many times have you ditched your shifts, leaving him here all alone with these estrogen crazed harpies? _Schuldich strolled into the shop, grinning like the cat who drank the proverbial cream. _Where does Ken keep his snacks, he asked me to pick up some leftover ramen from last night. _Schuldich paused and did a quick scan of Yohji's mind, grinning at the paranoia he found. Lifting his hands in the air, Schuldich endeavored to show the tall blonde he was unarmed. _Look, no guns, not even a wallet if you want to know the truth. I left everything in the car. _A lecherous smile slowly drawled across the redhead's face. _You can strip search me if you want._

"Get out," Yohji replied quietly.

"No can do, promised Ken I'd bring him food, remember? You wouldn't want me to break a promise to your precious Ken, would you?" Schuldich could taste the sweet honey of Yohji's uncertainty and it sent a thrill down his spine. "Look, I'll watch the shop while you go get the ramen, deal? Ken's already grumbling about me being a slacker and a shiftless loser who can't even accomplish so simple a task as to fetch a bit of ramen," Schuldich paused at Yohji's expression of disbelief. "His thoughts to my mouth, honest. So come on playboy, get your tight little ass in gear and get your dreamboat's ramen so I can go steal that sexy redhead away from him."

"Fine," Yohji assented, "but the shop better be here, without any corpses, when I get back." Without waiting for confirmation, Yohji stalked toward the back room and Ken's Tupperware of leftover ramen. _If Schuldich is interested in Ran, perhaps we could..._

I think it's an excellent idea Kudou, I was wondering if I'd have to spell it out for you. Schuldich's cocky tone caused Yohji to snarl and the German to laugh in response, startling a few lingering customers. "Don't worry about me my darlings, I simply remembered a joke a friend told me about roses." The customers eyed the German askance, having never seen him in the shop before, but were quickly taken in by his brilliant smile and...other assets.

"Stop frightening the customers." Yohji snapped upon entering the shop again. After years of fighting the Schwarz telepath the last thing he wanted to do was conspire with him, especially when it involved two other members of Weiß. _Ran cares for Ken, I can't break them up and look at myself in the mirror every morning._

_Cry, cry, whine, whine. Do you want Ken or not? _Schuldich raised a flaming brow and folded his arms across his chest, daring Yohji to speak the lie that was on his tongue.

Yohji gazed out the shop window a moment, collecting his thoughts. He cared for Ken, perhaps more than Ran, perhaps less. This did not, however, entitle him to sabotage Ran and Ken's relationship to satisfy his or Schuldich's personal desires. Ran had won fair and square, he'd secured Ken's favor and Yohji was bound by honor to comply with the rules of the competition.

"Rules," Schuldich snickered, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and tapping it on his palm. "You never established any 'rules' Kudou, you're just wussing out because Ran's got the gold star and you're stuck with the green one."

Turning to face Schuldich, Yohji held out the carton of ramen. "Take it and get out."

_Tsk tsk, throwing a perfectly good opportunity away like that. I'll visit you again, Yotan, I'm sure you'll be changing your mind._ Schuldich waved as he left, taking a moment to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the cute chime the corner of the door hit when it opened._ Time to give Ken his ramen and begin to woo the beautiful Abyssinian._


	10. Fortune Shining Down

Heyla!

So...yeah. It's been forever, but really you should be used to it by now. *dodges flying fruit* So...*toes ground and goes chibi* don't hate me, k? I updated! I would give you a beautiful excuse, rife with drama and that would make you all forgive me, but I opt for the truth. I'm lazy. Then I moved twice in one month. Then my computer began to hate me. The update's a short one, but hopefully I can slam out some sort of update after this one. *crosses fingers*

Remember: Whisper loves you!

DISCLAIMER: Whisper is not responsible for anything. If you have problems, blame them on Takehito.

WARNING: Nothing that bad in this little chapter, but if you're anti-shonen-ai...well, I'm really impressed you made it to Chapter 10.

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 10: Fortune Shining Down

By: Whisper

"Nagi, you and Omi will have to leave the house." Crawford swiveled in his office chair as the telekinetic passed by the workroom door.

"Why?" Nagi pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. It was a rare occasion that he and Omi were able to meet here and he had planned everything; a few new video games, a nice dinner, and some rented movies. Everything would be perfect and, as usual, Crawford was ruining it.

"I've told you several times that there is to be no copulating in this house, you'll have to go to Omi's house, it will be empty this evening." Crawford turned back around and continued typing up his report for the week, which now served more as a personal journal than an actual business document.

_I have foreseen that Schuldich will continue to cause problems between Abyssinian, Balinese, and Siberian. Were we still working against Weiß I would encourage him to continue down his current path, however now that that is no longer the case I find it difficult to restrain myself from...._

"Woohoo!" 

Crawford stopped typing and turned back around to see Nagi still standing in his doorway, his eyes alight with joy. "Don't you have something to be doing?" Crawford sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as a vision came to him. "Nagi, hold on a moment." The American reached into his top desk drawer removing something and throwing it at Nagi, who used his powers to catch it before it flew into his forehead. "Kudou and Fujimiya have exhausted Weiß' supply."

"Thanks, I think." Nagi looked at the tube of lubricant in his hands and another grin broke out over his face. After the better part of a month Omi was finally going to put out. Before Nagi left he cast another look over to Crawford, who had resumed his typing. The American wasn't a bad man though Nagi thought he ought to get out more.

"And tell Kudou to wait at least a week before helping Schuldich."

*****

_You disappoint me, Ran, you've been going out with Ken for at least a week and you've only screwed him once. What kind of boyfriend are you?_

Ran stiffened as a nasal voice filled his head while he watched Ken on the field. _What do you want Schwarz?_ Ran looked around for the German, his muscles tensing as he prepared for an attack.

_I'm not even on the same level idiot. Estet is gone and Taketori's dead, when are you going to get over it and play nice like all the other kittens? Ken plays _real_ nice, doesn't he? He's going to leave you if you don't treat him better, just so you know. _Down on the playing field Schuldich strolled out of the locker room exit and waved up at Ran. _See, nowhere near you._

Don't touch Ken or I'll gut you with my bare hands. Ran watched as Schuldich advanced toward Ken on the field, holding a bowl of ramen and chopsticks in his hands. 

"Sir, you can't come onto the field!" a guard barked out, running toward the flame-haired assassin.

"Just bringing Ken his snack," Schuldich replied, otherwise ignoring the man who had pulled out his gun and was taking aim, though as he tried to pull the trigger he found his finger wouldn't respond. Schuldich snorted and continued on, waving at Ken.

"You could've set it on the bench," Ken grumbled, one eye on Schuldich and the other on his fuming coach...

"You're hungry _now_. These fools can wait while you eat up and get your strength back. Can't go dancing tonight if you're passed out from hunger." Schuldich cast another look up to where Ran stood, still hidden in the stands. _Look Ran, aren't I a great friend, bringing him lunch so he won't starve. Have to look after his health, wouldn't want him passing out on the field, I'd be forced to give him mouth to mouth._

"Schu, leave Ran alone." Ken said around a mouthful of ramen.

"Ran's here?" Schuldich asked innocently, his eyes wide as he pretended to look around for the redhead.

"You're the one who pointed him out to me earlier Schuldich."

"He doesn't fuck you enough," Schuldich snapped back, startling the men who had come up to get some water near the sideline cooler. 

_Could we not talk about this here?_ Ken pleaded as he continued to inhale his food.

_But I think here is just the place, don't you? You said your team was like a family to you, who better to help you with your problem? _Schuldich looked over to Koshi and winked before slinging an arm around Ken's waist. _Koshi over there would gladly help you out._

Schuldich, keep your hands to yourself and stop pissing Ran off. Ken spun around and handed his empty bowl to Schuldich with a frown. In the corner of his eye he could see Koshi slowly approaching.

"Hey Schuldich, how are things?" Koshi's tone implied a sense of camaraderie with the German that was, perhaps, the farthest thing from the truth. If there was one person on the earth that the soccer player hated, it was the cocky redhead that so casually took advantage of his Ken.

"Not bad, considering. Just came to give Kenken here his lunch," Schuldich put his arm back around Ken's waist. "Have to make sure he's taken care of, has all his needs met." 

_Schuldich are you _trying_ to start a fight? _ Ken asked, moving away from the two and toward his duffel bag- he'd had enough of this for one day. 

_He's a possessive little rat, it's fun to rile him up. Where do you think you're going? _Schuldich continued to smirk at Koshi, distracting him from Ken's retreat. _Want me to tell Ran to meet you in the showers? You promised Yohji you'd go with him to the club tonight, best to get your carnal urges out before you get out of control in a public place, eh?_

Someone ought to castrate you. Ken gave a few parting words to Coach Hamashiro, who seemed to understand Ken's desire to be out of the stadium as soon as possible, given that a banner-waving contingent of Ken's fans had just commandeered section A. _So I take it I'll see you at the Onyx Room tonight?_

Wouldn't miss it for the world. As Ken left, Schuldich continued to distract Koshi by sending him random images of Ken, most of them filtered from Ran's memories.

*****

Ran frowned as the bartender leered at him, pushing some nameless concoction forward and winking. "For the prettiest guy in the joint," the man with the bright green hair commented as he waited for Ran to imbibe what would no doubt "loosen him up." The redhead looked at the toxic yellow beverage and snorted before standing up to find Ken in the throng of writhing bodies that was the dancefloor. Schuldich had popped up not ten seconds after their arrival, poured a drink down the brunette's throat, shoved some illegally young thing in leather into Yohji's arms, and dragged Ken out to dance while instructing Ran to sit at the bar and relax. If getting hit on by some skank of a bartender was Schuldich's idea of relaxing then Ran would rather stay tense, thank you.

Out on the dance floor, Schuldich was adeptly 'discouraging' anyone from groping Ken by conveniently 'redirecting' their attention to himself. If Ken was too hung up in his precious modesty to enjoy a good grope, Schu would gladly take both their shares and describe the experience to Ken at a later time. In full detail. With sensory images in mental surround sound.

After all, what was a friend for?

_Hey KenKen, doesn't Yohji look nice tonight? _Schuldich commented, pulling the brunette closer and smirking at said blonde over his shoulder. _You should go over and dance with him. You _are_ here to hang out with him tonight._

I don't think Ran would appreciate that, Ken sighed, his hold getting tighter on his old friend as they danced to a slow song. With another long release of breath Ken set his head on Schuldich's shoulder. _What the hell's going on Schu? Out of the blue Ran pounces me and after one random screw he thinks we're dating. I don't think I ever mentioned wanting something as permanent as what seems to be going on. _It wasn't that Ken didn't like Ran, he was actually pretty fond of him, but when your life could come to it's close at any moment, Ken thought it silly to tie yourself down to one person. A life without variety wasn't the sort of life Ken wanted...ever.

__

You could try talking to him. Schuldich pulled away from Ken and looked into troubled cocoa eyes. Schuldich knew his friend's tendencies, which ran along the lines of week or month long engagements then moving onto the next new thing. People just couldn't keep Ken's interest for very long. The athlete like new, exciting things and Ran wanted Ken on a more 'til death do us part' basis. Ken was much more 'before death do us part.'

_And what exactly would I say? "Hey Ran, you're suffocating me, back off?" _Ken's eyes wandered and found Yohji scowling at Schuldich. _What are you doing?_

Encouraging him to steal you away and ravish you. Schuldich turned a slutty smile to Ken before shoving him toward the blonde who was currently standing still in a state of shock. Schuldich had actually just joined Yohji in the mental link while Ken was ranting on about his problems with Ran, hoping it would incite the blonde into making a move.

"Um...hey," Yohji said, catching Ken before he fell and they both went crumbling to the ground.

"Whatever he said please disregard it, he's insane." Ken turned to snarl at Schuldich but found the redhead had vanished.

"Dance?" As Yohji held Ken close he processed the information he had received thanks to Schuldich. Ken didn't like to be tied down. Fine, he'd settle for what he could get. Now all he had to do was convince Ken that he'd rather not be with Ran. Yohji grinned to himself, a new plan forming in his head.

AN: So that's it for right now. Short, I know, but it was something, wasn't it? You don't hate me, do you?


	11. Unwelcome Visitors

Kon'nichi wa Minna!

Here's another chapter of KW for you in honor of Tomokazu Seki's appearance at Anime Expo. It's a dream come true, really. But anyway, back to the matter at hand. The chapter's not too long, but it should tide you over for a bit, ne? On the bright side, it didn't take me a year to get it to you. smiles Enjoy the read!

Disclaimer: If I owned Weiß I'd have Seki's autograph by now, wouldn't I?

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 11: Unwelcome Visitors

By: Whisper

"Don't forget your toothbrush." Ran was standing in the door, looking stoic and fighting the urge to wring his hand in apprehension. "And socks," he amended after some frantic thought. It had been four days since they'd gone to that stupid club and now Ken was being abducted for two weeks of training. Ken's idiotic coach thought it a bright idea to steal his team away into the countryside for a rigorous, distraction free training session. This meant that Ken would be cooped up with the Koji character without Yohji and himself or, God forbid, even Schuldich to keep the insufferable man from latching onto Ken.

"I hope there're no missions while I'm gone, " Ken sighed, placing the previously forgotten toothbrush and socks in his duffel. "Last time I left to train, you guys almost got killed." A frown formed, looking unnatural on sunburnt lips. Every time Ken left for a soccer match or event, he would momentarily doubt himself, recalling each and every time his absence had caused problems on a mission. His teammates were willing to take the risk to see him happy, but Ken was slowly beginning to wonder if the risk was worth it to him. After his last away game, he returned to find Omi in a makeshift hospital bed in the mission room, an IV in his arm and his chest swathed in bandages as he healed from a cut across the length of his abdomen. Ken didn't sleep for three nights after that.

"We'll be find, Ken," Ran assured him, though he couldn't seem to make the words sound as confidant as he wanted. The truth was that missions were on the rise. Kritiker intelligence had reason to believe that Sturm, a faction known to have defected from Estet three years prior to the organization's fall at the hands of Weiß, had reformed and was setting up operations in Japan. Manx and Ran had had many a discussion about the impending crisis as well as how Ken's stardom would affect missions. Manx was constantly pushing for Ken's resignation from the League while Ran insisted that if she mentioned such an idea in front of Ken, or spoke of Sturm in his presence, she would find a katana buried in her gut. During these conversations Yohji would occasionally be present and remind Manx that she couldn't very well tell Ken about anything if she was choking to death. The comment would be accented with a few taps on his watch.

_This is my last season. _Ken had made the decision after the last mission, but it wasn't until he heard Ran's half-assed lie that he had truly reconciled himself with it. He loved the members of Weiß, each of them filled some void in his heart. Omi was his joyous brother with whom he could cause mischief and lay around. Yohji and Ran were...difficult. He knew he loved them in a way altogether new to him. It was confusing and he hated it. When Ran had pounced him, Ken thought it a good opportunity to explore those feelings, but he found himself wracked with guilt every time he saw Yohji along, watching him with those sad, lonely emerald eyes. He wanted to just give the tall assassin a hug and tell him to stop pretending. Everyone has week moments, everyone douses their pain as best they can. Ken never bought Yohji's "ladykiller" act, nor did he buy Ran's "rat bastard" persona. He knew they, just like he, were hiding themselves for fear of being hurt again. That was part of the reason he rarely stayed involved with anyone for long; he couldn't bear another betrayal. He was trying with Ran, trying as best as he knew how, but deep inside he was just waiting for the rejection to come.

_Your thoughts are too dismal kitty cat, please lighten your mood before I choke on your angst._

Ken started, causing Ran to give him a sideways glance. "Chills," he explained, before turning back to his duffel and pretending to rearrange it. _The Hell are you Schu? I thought we agreed you'd stay away from here until I got back._

And you believed me? Have you learned nothing? Despite the telepath's words, he was probably the most trustworthy friend Ken had. Though Schuldich constantly spoke of stealing Ran away, he wouldn't honestly endeavor to snatch the redhead unless Ken made it clear that their relationship was over. Having tired of listening to Ken's mental babbling, the telepath had taught the soccer player how to shield; a skill that would negate Schuldich's abilities in a fight and leave him at the mercy of Ken's claws. The other reason Schuldich wouldn't meddle was because he sensed Ran and Yohji's true feelings towards his friend and coming from a life of sharing and stealing thoughts, Schuldich knew that love was difficult to find. It was one of the few emotions he respected. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from smacking that love around until it got the stick out of its ass and learned to play nice with his best friend. _Hey Ken, you have anything to eat in here? I was going to go to the grocery store but I had to stop some punk kid from robbing it. You know how community service ruins my appetite for an hour._

You're getting soft, Schu. Ken zipped his duffel up and bit down a chuckle. "Ran, would you mind making some sandwiches, Schu's stopping by for lunch before we head out." Ran snorted an affirmative and stalked out of the room. _Come on in, Ran knows you're here._

And he's not going to try to kill me? Oh happy day! There was a rustling of bushes and a moment later Schuldich stood just inside Ken's open window, chuckling. "Are you sure I can't come on this little trip of yours, it'll be..." his cell phone interrupted him. "Ja? Oh, it's you. I see. Yeah, I'll let them know. Now that's cheating! Bastard, you wouldn't! Fine, you just do that, the key's under the mat. Yes I leave the key under the mat, do you have a problem with that? See you in an hour." Schuldich turned the phone off and threw it at the wall. "Stubborn, no good..."

"Crawford?" Ken asked, knowing that the precog was the only one that could get that big a rise out of his friend.

"Cancel your trip, kitty cat, we've got trouble. Crawford's coming over with the others and we're going to have a little meeting." Schuldich looked to his friend's wide eyes and sighed. "They don't tell you anything, do they?" Ken shook his head, still looking puzzled. _Brace yourself, kiddo. _In a rush all that Schuldich knew regarding Sturm flooded into Ken's head in a flurry of imagery that threatened to overload his senses.

"I'll call coach," Ken sighed, walking to his dresser and looking for his cell. _Looks like my resignation's coming a little sooner than I thought._

_#####___

The doorbell rang and Ran grabbed the skillet from the stove so the grilled cheese sandwiches he was preparing wouldn't burn. Hot pan in hand, he went to answer the door, his grip on the pan handle tightening. "Who invited you here?" he hissed at Oracle, his eyes darting to Prodigy and Berserker, who flanked their leader.

"If you so much as move to hit me with that pan Abyssinian, I'll shoot you." Crawford replied, shoving past Ran and moving to stand at the bottom of the stairs.

"Brad be nice to Ran, he's had a tough week," Schuldich reprimanded as he and Ken made their way down.

"You!" Ran accused, pointing the pan.

"Lunch, excellent." Schuldich waltzed past the irate redhead, plucking the perfectly melted sandwich out of the pan and smiling. "Looks delicious, Ran, I can see why Ken keeps you around."

"If you hit Mastermind with that pan, the repercussions will not be pleasant," Crawford warned.

"Guests?" Yohji asked Ken, yawning and pointing to the members of Schwarz.

"Nagi!" Something blonde and blurry streaked past the two Weiß members on the stairs, grabbed Prodigy, and pulled him toward the basement. Meanwhile, Ran was repressing the urge to hit something with the skillet in his hands, Schuldich was munching on a sandwich, Berserker was staring at the cross over their mantelpiece with contempt, and Oracle was giving Ran a look of smug superiority.

"Would anyone like something to drink?" Ken offered weakly.

"Coffee please," Crawford replied with more courtesy than Ken would've thought him to possess.

"Water," Farfello said calmly, his eyes still on the cross.

"I'll have whatever you're having, Ken." Schuldich cast a quick glance at Yohji and Ran, each man starting as his eyes passed over them.

"Schuldich, I believe your commentary is not appreciated, please endeavor to control your...urges." Schuldich pouted at Crawford's words and flopped into a nearby chair, sticking his tongue out at his leader.

"Right...I'll go get those drinks then." Ken darted out of the room, a blush staining his cheeks. In his haste he failed to note how Yohji and Ran's eyes followed him, focusing on the subtle swish of his uniform shorts.

"Prodigy and Bombay should be preparing the presentation." Crawford began to walk toward the basement stairs, Berserker following closely behind him.

"Schuldich I don't suppose you could explain what's going on?" Yohji asked, leaning against the stair railing.

"I could." Schuldich's smile wasn't encouraging.

"And will you?" Yohji sighed, already tired and ready to go back to bed.

"Sturm's set up shop and is ready to attack. Crawford believes a united from is the only way to save our asses and, given where your eyes are lingering, there are some asses in this world you're rather adamant to save, ja?" The German chuckled at his own joke and the growl it elicited from Ran.

_Schuldich, not again._ Ken entered the room carrying a tray of beverages with moderate success. _Give me a hand, would you?_

It really is too easy, Ken. They set themselves up for it every time. The telepath grabbed a few beverages from the tray and settled the others so that their weight was more evenly distributed.

_How do your teammates put up with you?_ Ken looked to Ran and Yohji, who pointed to the basement door. Ran stood and took the remaining beverages from the tray, frowning at Schuldich one for good measure before heading downstairs. If Oracle was standing in his spot, he was going to destroy him.

######

Crawford's presentation had taken the better part of two hours. It was a well planned affair with diagrams and Power Point presentations. "As you can see, our only hope is to unite our efforts. We can use the Koneko as our base of operations..."

"You will have to work your turn in the shop," Ran interrupted, scowling. The threat from Sturm was larger than Kritiker had anticipated though Weiß had already been given full sanction to take whatever actions necessary to stop the organization.

"I refuse to work in that shop, Crawford." Farfello's snarl frightened all in the room, save Ran who was hell bent on making Schwarz suffer for infiltrating his home.

"You _will_ work in the shop," Ran ordered, staring the madman in the eye. "You will work in the shop and you will work hard or you and your team can leave and face Sturm on your own."

"Abyssinian...." Farfello hissed, clenching his fists.

"Oracle?" Ran raised a thin eyebrow to the Schwarz leader, waiting for his comments on the matter.

Crawford looked from Ran to Berserker and sighed. "We work in the shop."

"Sugoi! We can have days off now!" Omi exclaimed, earning a glare from Farfello and a disgusted snort from the remaining members of Schwarz.

"Wonderful, working with pansies," the white haired Irishman muttered, just loud enough to be heard.


	12. Flower Shop Blues

Kon'nichi wa Minna!

Well, here's another chapter of Koneko Wars, complete with fanservice! Not a lot of fanservice, but still it's there! A huge hug goes out to all my reviewers and anyone else who might need one at the moment.

As for the ongoing pairing debate...I'm just not sure anymore. Originally my heart was set on Ranken, but as this goes on I'm having a greater appreciation for Yoken and I'm wondering if it wouldn't kill me to just make it a RanYoKen and call it done. Whaddya think?

Did you notice that I updated before the year was up? Good, ne? Enjoy the read and let me know what you think.

Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 12: Flower Shop Blues

"Farfie-kun will you help me with this plant? It's awfully heavy." Farfello flinched as yet another of the putrid spawn called him 'Farfie-kun' and tried to get him to lift something. Damn Weiß for this stupid cover and damn Crawford for making them participate in it. The Irishman's only solace was that Crawford was fairing no better.

"Crawford-san, you're sooo dreamy. Say something in English!"

"Crawford-san, will you go out with me?"

"Neither of you will be buying anything today. If you do not leave the store in the next five minutes, I'm retrieving Aby...Aya." Crawford winced at his near slip. He still found it difficult to refer to Weiß by their given names. Ken wasn't as difficult, seeing as Schuldich mentioned him at least once an hour, for which the American was not jealous. At all. He had no reason to be, really. The two were what some termed "best friends" and had never sated their more carnal urges with one another. As Schuldich put it, "it would be incestuous." Not that Crawford put incest past Schuldich, but the telepath seemed to be telling the truth. He hoped.

"Sugoi! Aya-kun and Crawford-san!" The girls in the shop were screaming again in hopes of having both their Aya-kun and their Crawford-san together in the same room.

"I'm going to kill them," Farfello confided to Crawford, swatting a clingy schoolgirl off his leg. "I'm going to take these pruning sheers and stab them in the heart, laughing while they die."

"Lunch time!" Nagi entered the shop from the back and smiled at their patrons. "I'm sorry, you'll have to come back in an hour, the shop is closing for lunch." The girls smiled at Nagi and quickly left without so much as a squeal.

"How?" Farfello asked the younger Schwarz, gripping him by the strings of his apron. "How do you avoid them? They don't "Nagi-kun" you or swarm you like vultures. How?" Nagi took a step back and smiled, pointing to his apron.

"The girls have been warned," Nagi chirped. A week ago he's stepped into the Koneko for his first shift and had been swarmed with schoolgirls, all of them touching and squealing and driving him batty. Luckily, his first shift had been with Omi, who was not at all pleased to see _his_ telekinetic pawed at by fangirls. That night, Omi had taken fabric paint and Sharpies to Nagi's powder blue apron and had written in very large box print, "Property of Tsukiyono Omi. All Trespassers will be Shot," following up the warning with his signature. The next shift had seen a drastic reduction in the girls touching Nagi and after one overzealous girl was sprayed with the hose, none dared come near the brooding boy. Of course, now girls were clambering at Omi to be made his "property."

"That's disgusting," the Irishman growled, taking in the warning and Nagi's pride. "You've been branded like a cow."

"Better branded than covered in fangirls," Nagi shot back.

"No fighting in the shop!" Abyssinian's voice cut through the air, freezing the two Schwarz members. Why could they never hear him coming? It was unnerving. Suddenly Farfello brightened.

"Abyssinian, sign my apron." He took off the white monstrosity and thrust it toward Weiß's leader.

"No." Ran turned to go inside. "Lunch will be gone if you do not hurry, Schuldich and Ken were scouting today." It had become a tradition for Schuldich and Ken to return from scouting and eat everything in sight. Whether it was from actual hunger or just to have something to do, no one knew.

"Why do we even let them go out together anymore? We can't afford the groceries," Nagi whined, running into the house.

"They make a good team," Crawford admitted, his frown mirroring Abyssinian's. Ran wasn't keen on letting the two friends wander off, either, but the mission came first and Ken's agility matched with Schuldich's telepathy was a deadly combination.

"The mission comes first," Ran agreed. If anything, the last week had taught Ran that Crawford wasn't at all a bad person. In fact, he had begun to find many similarities between the Schwarz leader and himself. The first being their strong dislike for Schuldich and Ken's friendship. Neither of them was jealous, they were simply looking out for the greater good of their teams. It was comforting to know that, when Schuldich and Ken had to go out on an errand, Crawford was willing to wait up with him until the two returned. The two leaders would sit, watching the news channel until Ken and Schuldich returned, then usher the assassins up to their rooms and clean them up. Oftentimes, Yohji would join them, holding an unlit cigarette in his hand and idly watching the door when the others weren't looking. Surely, it was concern for their teammates that kept them up until the wee hours, sitting in the oddly comforting silence.

%%%%%%

"You thought of anything yet?" Schuldich lay, sprawled across half of Ken's bed, his eyes closed. They had consumed all of the ramen at the table and retreated to Ken's room for a planning meeting. What they were planning had yet to be determined, though they did know it centered around the growing problems with Crawford, Ran, and Yohji. Both men had realized shortly after the joining of the two teams that their sidestepping around relationships had to come to an end. Schuldich had been ignoring Brad's more than blatant interest for far too long, and Ken had been running away from Ran and Yohji's affections far more than was healthy.

"Nope. You?" Ken fell down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. It wouldn't give him any answers, but it was as good a place to stare as any.

"Not a clue." Schuldich sighed and turned his head. "They think we're doing illicit things in this room, you know that, right?" Schuldich tried not to gag at the thought of having sex with Ken. Of all the vile ideas that had come into his head, that was the only one that seemed so...filthy.

"Gross," Ken replied automatically, adding a hasty, "No offense." to cover up any hard feelings.

"None taken. Really, you'd think they'd get it by now. Let's see what they're up to." Schuldich let his mind wander and stretch until he found the three objects of their contemplation. Once a link to each was secured, he added Ken's mind in. Sharing Ken's mind was easy, it was like a mirror to Schuldich's own. Sometimes it made Schuldich sick, knowing how similar they really were.

_I wonder if Crawford knows how he sounds right now._ That thought was Yohji's, Schuldich could tell by the raw amusement in it.

_If Ken doesn't come down soon, I'm going up there. There's no telling what that Schwarz psychopath will do to him. _That was definitely Ran; so trusting, so caring.

"I suppose it's a good thing he doesn't say half of what he thinks," Schuldich muttered. He knew Ran disliked him, but being called a psychopath was a bit much at this stage in their relationship, he thought.

"He's just worried," Ken sighed, patting Schuldich's hand in sympathy. "He insults people when he's worried. You know, make them less than you are so you don't have to feel so inferior." Ken propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at his friend. "He thinks he's competing with you and you've got to admit that being up against a telepath stacks the odds against you, no matter what you're competing for."

"If I didn't know you'd kill me, I'd just cement it into his paranoid little brain that I'm not interested in you." Schuldich mumbled. "At least Yohji gets it."

"Yohji's been around longer, he understands me better than Ran does." Ken slid back down and resumed staring at the ceiling.

"You know, if you'd have just fucked them both in the beginning, you wouldn't be in this mess." Schuldich ignored Ken's screams of indignation. "Think about it, though. You danced around with everyone and anyone to get your mind off of them, knowing full well that at any time they would've welcomed you into their mushy, love-filled lives. Then, when your resolve finally breaks and you make the decision to settle down, you get spooked and run away again. Not to mention all this "guilt" you're feeling about having slept with Ran and not Yohji." Ken made as if to speak but Schuldich held his hand up, silencing him. "I know, I know, I've been supporting your less than savory habits, but what did you expect me to do? Friends support eachother, they don't run one another's lives. You fuck up, I applaud your stupidity. You ask for help, I give it. You tell me to fuck off, I ignore you. It's in the job description."

"Speaking of fuck ups," Ken retorted, more than a little bit upset at having his flaws shoved in his face, "let's talk about you for a moment. For months I've been hearing 'I miss Brad' and 'I wonder where Brad is' and 'Dammit, why doesn't Brad ever call me?'" Ken tried to impersonate Schuldich's accent but ended up sounding more like one of the Koneko fangirls. "And all of it for nothing, Schu. Brad's crazy about you, even if he's not ready to admit it to himself. Why don't you just take the first step?"

"He'll kill me," Schuldich replied dimly. "You don't understand Brad, he needs to be in charge or..."

"Coward." It was a word the two bandied about on a daily basis and it seemed to sum up their faults nicely. They were both cowards, afraid to move outside of their carefully built emotional shelters.

_Looks like Aya and Crawford are going to fight, wonder who'll win. Probably Crawford, unless he's too busy thinking about Schuldich's so called virtue to use his gift. _Schuldich and Ken shot up and out of the bed at Yohji's thought, wondering what was going on downstairs. Severing the link between the five of them, Schuldich tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs, Ken close behind him.

%%%%%%

Yohji felt the faint pinprick at the back of his head fade, signaling Schuldich's departure from his thoughts. He wondered when the others would realize that Schuldich, and probably Ken had been eavesdropping in on them. No matter, Ran and Crawford seemed to be busy glaring at one another and the two meddlers would be showing up soon to put an end to their fight. Awfully predictable, those two.

"I suggest you take that back before I shove this into your ribcage," Ran hissed, his grip tight on the metal spatula in his hands. All the knives had been placed in cupboards at the other end of the room due to previous disagreements in the kitchen.

"It's the truth, Abyssinian, your little whore boyfriend is trying to seduce Schuldich." There, it was out in the open now. All the jealousy and hate and...Crawford stumbled as a spatula hit him in the chest.

"It's your whoreish teammate that's seducing Ken!" The two circled, preparing for another of their brawls.

"If you're trying to seduce me, you're doing a crap job, Kenken." Schuldich's voice cut through the hissing and snarling of the two combatants.

"No no, Schu; _you're _seducing _me_ this week, weren't you listening?" Ken stood beside Schuldich in the doorway, both of them looking unimpressed at the display of machismo before them. "Why didn't you stop them, Yohji?"

"I like breathing, Kenken." Yohji smiled and slowly stood to stand next to Ken, draping an arm around his shoulders. "You know how these two get when they want to beat something. Best they beat eachother, I say." Yohji was nothing if not a self-preservationist.

"Brad, Ran, go to your rooms!" Schuldich pointed toward the stairs and watched the two sulking assassins leave the room, snarling. When they had gone, Schuldich laughed, arms clutching at his stomach. "I can't believe that actually worked!"

"They were too busy loathing eachother to actually hear what you said. They'll be down in a minute to yell at you." Yohji reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his cigarette case, offering one to Schuldich. With a wave to Ken, Schuldich took the offered sign of peace and walked with Yohji outside, leaving Ken to fix dinner.

"So," Yohji brought the conversation to a not so productive start.

"He's confused, give it time." Schuldich inhaled the carcinogens and relaxed against the side of the house.

"Omi and Nagi have almost got the coordinates of a Sturm warehouse, we don't have much time." Yohji took a drag and sunk to the ground, staring out at the street.

"Look, I'm not on your side in this, I'm on Ken's side. When he's ready to do whatever it is he's decided to do, I'll let you know. Until then, just relax. Ran's not going to win, at least not exclusively." Schuldich smirked down at the blonde. "You've been a very good kitty, not getting into fights or making stupid vows of undying love. Ken appreciates that. Ken notices that."

"You could've fooled me," Yohji grumbled, smoke trailing out of his mouth.

"He's still pissed about having to drop out of the league, okay? Every night when no one's there he's angsting up in his room, clutching a soccer ball." Schuldich paused, looking to Yohji's concerned face. The blonde was going to do something stupid any moment now. "I didn't tell you that," the redhead warned. "I didn't tell you that and you're not going to go find Ken and console him. You don't know that anything is wrong and...dammit." Yohji was up and running to the kitchen, his cigarette smoldering on the ground. Schuldich picked the discarded stick up and sighed. "No use letting it go to waste."

%%%%%%

Back in the kitchen, Ken was tenderizing meat, thinking about nothing in particular. Arms slid around him and he, unthinking lashed out with the meat tenderizer, clubbing his assailant in the head.

"Dammit Ken, that hurt!" Oh, it was Yohji.

"Gomen, Yotan, I didn't know it was you." Ken continued to beat the meat with the metal mallet, ignoring his blonde friend. Yohji was always latching onto him nowadays, it was sweet, but nothing he needed to stop dinner preparations for.

"Your team should be coming back from training soon." Yohji's arms tightened around Ken's waist and he rested a blonde head down on a well muscled shoulder. "Bet I could convince your coach to still let you play if you wanted to."

Ken's movement stopped. These were the words he'd been both longing and dreading to hear. He could still play out the season...but then there was Weiß. The battle with Sturm was about to begin and he needed to devote all of his attention to it. Weiß came first. It came first or Kritiker would see him dead before too long. "No Yohji, it's better this way." Instinctively, Ken leaned back into the warmth of Yohji's embrace, taking deep breathes so he wouldn't cry and embarrass himself.

"But you're unhappy." Nimble fingers moved through chestnut hair, eliciting a deep sigh from the brunette.

"We're all unhappy sometimes. We get over it." It was true. Each and every one of them had given something up for Kritiker. Now it was Ken's turn. "If giving up soccer means that you're safe, it's worth it." He hadn't meant to sound so mushy. Ken felt Yohji's smile against his neck and turned to catch the other man's eyes. "I mean it Yohji, it's okay."

Time froze. The two stared at eachother for the eternity that stretches between two people finally giving in to their hearts. The world moved with a stomach knotting slowness as each man pondered what to do in the blissfully awkward moment. Yohji moved first, bringing his lips to touch Ken's in a feather-light touch. Ken responded, his lips pushing back solidly, hungrily.

Time resumed. Within moments Yohji and Ken were battling for dominance, twirling around the kitchen in a breathy cloud of need. It was Ken who took the first step, unbuttoning Yohji's black silk shirt and tossing it out of the way. Soon they stood only in unbuttoned pants, staring at one another again.

"Ken I don't think..." Yohji began, but was silenced with a probing kiss.

"Please Yohji...please?" Ken was shaking, gripping Yohji's shoulders tightly, his fingers leaving circles of white in Yohji's flesh.

"In the kitchen? What if..." Silence by another kiss and Ken's liquid eyes.

"I don't care." Ken's voice was so small, so lost that Yohji was powerless to resist. He sent a mental shout to Schuldich to keep people out of the kitchen, getting halfway through the message before Ken's tongue trailing down his chest distracted him.

%%%%%

Lunch had worn Yohji out, but no one was willing to let him get out of shop duty, least of all Farfello, who had come downstairs to make a smoothie and had found Yohji and Ken screwing eachother on the kitchen counter. Right beside the blender he needed to make his smoothie. And to make matters worse, when he'd stalked up to Crawford's room to inform him of the gross display, Crawford had dismissed him with a wave and returned to his computer screen. Solitaire was not that exciting, dammit.

"Enjoy your break Kudou?" Farfello snarled, throwing a foam brick at the blonde's head. Tragically, Yohji caught it before it could collide with his eyeball.

"Why yes, Farfello, I did. How about yourself?" Yohji really enjoyed watching Berserker's anger rise, particularly when he knew that the Irishman was under strict non-violence guidelines when in the shop.

"I hate you."

"Farfie-kun!" Farfello shrunk as his fanclub ran into the now open doors of the Koneko.

"I hate you all!" he screamed before bolting out of the shop and into the house. Ken was making dinner tonight and surely needed help. Even if he didn't cleaning the kitchen was better than being with these harpies. Maybe he could give the kitchen a nice bleach bath and it wouldn't smell like Kudou. They needed to die, all of them.


	13. Show on the Road

Kon'nichi Wa!

Another chapter of Koneko Wars is here for those devoted enough to have waited this obscenely long. Again, not particularly long, but it is an update, so you can't complain too much. Well, I suppose you can, and I'm sure some of you will, but I really am trying. There's just this "life" stuff, you see, and it's amazingly busy at the moment and I haven't had time or inspiration, and...oh nevermind, just read and enjoy!

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 13: Show on the Road

By: Whisper

"So. This is it, huh?" A boy rested with his back against the storefront window of the Koneko, occasionally glancing over his shoulder and into the shop. "Kind of a crap cover, don't you think?"

"I think it's wonderful," the girl beside him smiled. Her eyes had gone wide and dreamy and he knew he should never have brought her along. Almost every time they had been assigned to scout out Weiß or Schwarz, she would sit and stare and get absolutely nothing done. Did she even know they were the enemy? Still...it was kinda cute.

"You are aware that you're staring at six grown men in multicolor aprons, ja?" He knew she knew, but it never hurt to ask. Maybe she would get the point.

"The other two are our age," she protested, her lips curling into a pout.

"Birgit, have you been paying any attention to the mission at all? Did you read the files Ludger gave you? Those two sleep in the same room. In the same bed." She was still looking at him with her classic wind-between-my-ears expression. "Naked."

"Oh." Her shoulders drooped and her head dropped, azure hair obscuring her disappointment. The ones she wanted were always taken (usually by other men) and Stefan took so much delight in pointing it out every single time. One of these days, she would kill him. Then he'd learn. "Right," she said, shaking off her disappointment and filing away her anger for later use. "What's the assignment for today?"

"Today we pick one to take with us." Stefan grinned. This was his favorite part of the job; the part where they grabbed the enemy and dragged them, kicking and screaming back to headquarters. There the other three members of the team would interrogate the captive and hopefully, before the day was out Stefan would get to practice with the torture kit.

"I want to take that one." Birgit pointed to Ken and sighed. Stefan followed the line of her pale, soft, beautifully manicured (dammit he was not going to get sidetracked today) finger and saw Ken Hidaka. Quickly the young man's mind searched for data and, when he recalled the advise of his mentors, he frowned.

"Too closely tied with the others," Stefan sighed, his eyes searching the shop for a more suitable target. A bright orange blur caught his eye. "That one. The telepath."

"Schuldich," Birgit supplied, glad she could help. "He'll be hard to capture. We'll need to dampen his range, possibly deaden it completely."

Stefan smiled. This was the Birgit he lov...knew; all business, sharp as a razorblade, and not giggling over boys that weren't him. "Lenka says he's strong, possibly the strongest telepath Estet had. She never exaggerates."

"Understood." Birgit's eyes unfocused as she let her mind wander over the crowd inside the shop. Gushing schoolgirls. Angsting Ken. Pining Yohji. Angsting Ran. Horny Omi. Irate Nagi. Irate Farfello. Bored Schuldich. Exasperated Crawford. Damn, nothing useful. "Empathy sucks," she sighed, standing from her slouch against the window. "There's nothing in there we can work with right now. His mind's wandering, there's nothing solid for me to clamp onto."

_Greetings little girl. Might I ask why you're prying in my mind? _ Birgit started, falling toward the ground with a yelp. Strong arms caught her before her face made contact with the pavement. She looked up and smiled. _Aw how adorable young love is. _The girl snarled at the voice in her head, wondering how Schuldich had caught her. _You're sloppy, little one. You left a trace line back to you. Go and tell the rest of Sturm that they'll not be taking anyone anywhere. If you try, I'll kill your little love there._ The blur of orange hair turned about and Schuldich locked eyes with her. To her horror, she found she could not look away. _Remember, touch one hand on me or mine and you'll be sorry you were ever spawned._ A small wave, merely a flittering of his fingers in the air, and Schuldich's attentions were gone, back to the floral arrangement in front of him.

"Caught?" Stefan asked a blushing Birgit. At some point in time he would realize that he was still holding the girl and he would turn away, mortified, but for the moment his mind was focused on the mission.

"Caught." she confirmed, exasperated. She'd never expected the telepath to prod into her mind so easily. Her defenses were getting weak-- she was getting weak. "Let me go."

"Huh? Oh." Stefan turned away, blushing and dropped Birgit to the ground, though not intentionally and therefore not with any manner of grace or consideration for Birgit's body, which connected with the pavement in a spectacularly bruising fashion. "Sorry."

"The shop is closed!" Schuldich's voice cut into the gigglestorm that was late afternoons in the flower shop. A large sigh of disappointment caused flowers to waft in their vases, but the girls obediently left. None of them were too partial to the tall German-- he never flirted with them like Yohji did, or greeted them with Omi's enthusiasm, and he wasn't as mysterious as the American. In fact, he was usually downright nasty to them, the bastard.

When the grate had finally lowered, Ran turned to frown at Schuldich. "That's one hour of paying customers lost, Schuldich. Explain."

"Sturm sent two little spies this afternoon. Did you notice the two that were staring in the window?" The others shook their heads, not that Schuldich expected anything less. The members of Weiß seemed to be under the misconception that this flower shop rendered them invisible to the enemy eye. The only way a large, busy flower shop with girls screaming "bishounen!" around it would be invisible were if the enemy had glaucoma or was deaf. Schuldich was fairly certain Sturm was neither.

"Get the shop cleaned up and report to the mission room in twenty minutes," Crawford ordered, securing the front gate. "If Sturm has found our location then measures will need to be taken.

$$$$$$$$

Yohji. Of all the people to be stuck in a room with, he was stuck with Yohji. Ran paced back and forth in front of his twin sized bed, one of the two in this small, cramped, Yohji-filled room. Kritiker had relocated the teams to a new apartment complex on the other side of town shortly after they'd reported the Sturm encounter. Schuldich and Ken had claimed a room together as soon as they'd arrived and it would've taken explosives to separate Omi and Nagi. Of course, those two had an excuse beyond the carnal; they needed to be together to plan mission strategy. Crawford and Farfello were sharing a room, neither of them wanting to room with "idiots." That left Ran rooming with Yohji, the one person he really didn't want to see right now, particularly after he'd gotten a full report on yesterday's events from Farfello.

"Stop pacing before you wear a track in the carpeting." Yohji grumbled from his dead sprawl across his bed.

"I'm thinking," Ran shot back, knowing full well that his anger was evident in his voice.

"You can think and be still at the same time. And stop being a jealous bastard, it doesn't suit you." Yohji would have liked to rub his little "victory" in Ran's face (much like the redhead had done to him) but he like to think of himself as a classy individual, one above such base joys.

"You shouldn't have touched him." Ran snarled, stopping his circuit at Yohji's feet. The desire to break the tall man's kneecaps was almost overwhelming.

Yohji couldn't help but smile, annoying Ran all the more. He'd be damned if pissing off Ran wasn't one of the most enjoyable pastimes in the world. "Don't worry, he touched me to. Asked for it, in fact." He closed his eyes, savoring the memory. "And then he did this thing with his nails," a shiver, "delicious." Yohji tumbled off the bed before Ran's hurtling body could pin him down. Everyone in the complex had probably heard the redhead's scream of rage, though.

$$$$$$$$

"You think Ran and Yohji are going to kill eachother?" Ken asked from his spot on the floor, legs spread out around a bevy of Chinese food cartons.

"Probably." Schuldich replied from next to Ken, similarly situated.

"Think we should go stop them? Sturm probably heard Ran all the way from their hideout, which could be next door for all we know." Ken poked at a piece of barbequed pork with his chopstick. "This relocation was the stupidest thing Kritiker's ever made us do. Including the flower shop."

"Now now Ken, let's not be dramatic." Schuldich brandished his chopsticks in admonishment. "The flower shop idea is most definitely the most idiotic thing you've ever been forced to do. It's never actually worked as a cover. Schwarz found you and Sturm found you- at no point in your entire career as an assassin has that flower shop served to protect you." He chuckled and let his chopsticks slide from his hand and into a container of steamed dumplings. "But I have to admit you guys do look cute in those little aprons."

Ken threw a chopstick and Schuldich moved his head a moment before it impacted with his eye. The soccer player sighed and stood. "I'm going to go talk to them."

"And tell them what, exactly? That they should act nice to one another during their moments of intense jealousy and bitter rivalry? That you're very disappointed in them and they're acting like bad little boys and aren't getting any desert."

"I don't know, but if things continue like this they're going to mess up on duty and get themselves killed. I can't live with that." Ken winced as a carton of sweet and sour shrimp was knocked over as he stood. That was gonna stain.

$$$$$$$$

Ken thought about knocking on the door, but doubted (what with all the crashing and shouting inside) that either of the room's occupants would disengage from their current activity to open the door for him. Luckily, the door was unlocked. "That's safe," Ken grumbled, walking in to find the room a complete mess and Ran standing over Yohji's prone form, a chair raised high in the air, one leg of which was aimed directly for Yohji's heart.

"Die you succubus!" Ran tensed his arms and began driving the chair downward only to find that it wouldn't move. Slowly, he turned to find Ken holding onto the chair, frowning at both of them.

"I think we need to have a talk." Ken pulled the chair out of Ran's grip and set it down then helped Yohji to stand. "Sit," he ordered and his two suitors complied, moving to sit at the ends of their beds. "Okay, so you're both really great..."

$$$$$$$$

Schuldich started at the sound of a knock on the door. As he lazily rose from the forest of fast food cartons he reached with his telepathy. The mental barrier he came up against had Crawford's name all over it. "Ja, ja I'm coming." He opened the door and put on his best "what the fuck do you want" smile.

"Schuldich, despite the fact that you've already stuffed yourself like a rejected prom date, I'd like to request your company to dinner."

"Why Brad, I do believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Schuldich tried to keep from blushing, but failed miserably. Brad was wearing one of his white suits with a blood red tie- stunning. And though Schuldich had nearly stuffed himself to maximum capacity, he couldn't find it in himself to make his usual snide comment and turn the American away. Brad looked so wonderful, and his voice was so sincere and deep and beautiful...

"Schuldich, get changed. I'll wait outside." Brad walked out the door, closing it quietly. Schuldich quickly changed into a matching white suit, no tie and sauntered out for his "date."

AN: So...what did you think? Did you like Birgit and Stefan? I do, but I'm biased so my opinion really doesn't count for much. Next chapter there will be much discussion between certain romantically-challenged individuals. Until then, keep your fingers crossed that my computer doesn't crash on me.


	14. Sturm Rising

Kon'nichi Wa Minna!

So here's another chapter of KW, just in time for the holidays! Again, it's not much, but given that I'm the Slowest Updater Ever, I'm sure you've come to expect this by now, no? At any rate, enjoy it for what it's worth, ignore it for what it isn't, and enjoy your holiday season, however you choose to celebrate it.

-Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 14: Sturm Rising

"I do not believe that Weiß are taking this threat seriously." Crawford took a sip of his martini and frowned down at it. This was not a martini, this was swill.

"You brought me out to dinner to discuss business?" Schuldich's heart sank though he was keeping it hidden quite admirably. He did, however snatch a menu and begin searching for the most expensive dessert on it.

"We needed to go somewhere where Weiß wouldn't hear and I haven't eaten yet today." The Oracle pushed his martini to the side and began to sip his water. He would definitely be having a discussion with the restaurant manager about this. He pushed his glasses up off the tip of his nose and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small notebook. "We have already located one Sturm warehouse, suspected to be harboring explosives. Tomorrow night Schwarz will go in and evaluate the risk. If it is low, we will deal with matters ourselves. If required, we will wait until the following day, when Weiß will join us on the mission as planned. Schuldich? Schuldich, pay attention!"

The redhead waved a hand at his leader, his gaze on the dessert tray one of the waiters was carrying. "Ja, ja I hear you. Sturm blah, blah, blah. Mission blah, blah, blah. Don't trust Weiß blah, blah, blah. Waiter!" Schuldich snapped his fingers in the air, enjoying the irritation that flowed off their server. "I'll have the Death By Chocolate Cheesecake. Extra whipped cream. Extra fudge sauce."

"You're going to get sick if you eat that," Crawford warned, if only to spare his wallet the fifteen dollar dessert.

"So?" Schuldich hummed to himself while he waited for the server to bring his dessert to him.

--#--

Yohji and Ran still sat on the ends of their beds a full hour after Ken had left them. They blinked occasionally, but for the most part their combined gaze was locked on the chair that Ken had been sitting in. Surely they'd heard wrong, hadn't they? Surely this was some demented dream and they would wake up and feel like idiots for having believed such a thing to be true. Yohji reached behind him and grabbed a pillow, smacking Ran in the face.

Ran snarled, but made no move to retaliate. The pillow had hurt- obviously he was awake. "Normal people pinch themselves, Yohji." He stood then, moving the chair back to his desk. Ken's scent still lingered on it, which only aggravated him more at the moment.

"Hitting you is just as good," Yohji yawned. It was nearly midnight and he'd gotten nothing accomplished today besides giving Ran a few more bruises. Not too bad for a day's work, really. "So..."

Ran arched a brow but said nothing. It was clear with whom he placed the blame. Instead of answering Yohji's invitation for conversation, the redhead went to his dresser and removed his pajamas. There was nothing that could be done tonight to aid their situation and tomorrow they needed to begin planning for the infiltration of Sturm's warehouse.

"So that's it, you're just going to ignore me?" Yohji rose and crossed the room, getting out his own bedclothes which were, it should be noted, his only pair of bedclothes. Kudou Yohji was not accustomed to the trappings of modesty.

"Yes."

"What do you think he meant by 'start over?' How far back are we supposed to be taking this?" Yohji frowned at the discomfort the pajamas caused him but wisely held in the comment on Ran's sexual hang-ups that begged to come forth.

"Yohji, shut up and go to bed." Ran turned off the lights and moved towards his bed, the lamplight streaming in from the window illuminating his path. He didn't want to think about any of this. If he thought about it, he'd begin dreaming about it. If he dreamed about it, he'd never get any sleep and he'd mess up on the mission. "The mission comes first." It was what Ken had said, and he'd been right. They were letting their personal issues interfere with the operation of Weiß and that could be fatal.

--#--

"Cold turkey, that's impressive."

"Shut up, Schuldich." Ken was lying on his bed, suffocating in blankets, staring into the darkness of their shared room.

"Can't. If I shut up then I'm left to my own thoughts. Trust me, yours are brighter." A sigh sounded in the dark. "He asked me out to dinner to discuss the damn mission. The _mission_. Like I give a fuck about whether or not we catch Sturm a day earlier. They probably know we're coming and have already set a trap."

"Probably. We'll go in and die, our souls unfulfilled and lingering to haunt Sturm for the rest of their lives." It didn't sound so bad when put in such a poetic light. Ken could even get into it a bit, imagining what his ghostly-form would look like. Thinking about his ghostly afterlife was much better than thinking about his present, crap life.

--#--

"You chickened out." A snicker followed, high and hysterical.

"Farfello, I _will_ kill you. I can see a future without you and it all ends up just the same." It was a lie, but at this point Brad would do anything to shut the Irishman up. Two hours ago Brad had come home from dinner with Schuldich, a dinner in which he had planned to discuss his feelings like a rational human being. Instead, he retreated back into business and kept his eyes on his plate so he wouldn't have to think about grabbing the German and hauling him into the restroom to ravish him. Why couldn't feelings be more logical? Then he could put everything roiling around inside him into a nice spreadsheet and deliver it to Schuldich in a dignified manner. But no, this silly attraction defied all logic. What was worse was that his gift gave him no indication if Schuldich would accept such an overture. Without at least a hint of success in the future, Brad was loath to do anything, particularly pour his heart out to a cocky, conceited, beautiful, annoying, and far too alluring man who would probably just laugh and tell him to find a girl and a closet and take care of it on his own.

"He probably hates you now."

And to top it all off, here he was, being berated by Farfello of all people. The sick melodrama that was Bradley Crawford's life was quickly becoming too much for the precog. "Farfello, I'm going to bed. If you mention the events of tonight one more time, I am going to shoot you. This is the only warning you will get." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun, checking the safety before placing it under his pillow.

--#--

"Our job is now more difficult. There will be set-backs, set-backs we cannot afford."

Stefan cringed as Lenka lectured him, but bore his shame as best he could. It was partly his fault that they'd been caught-- okay, so it wasn't his fault at all, but he couldn't have Birgit take the blame, her emotional state was too fragile to withstand Lenka's cruel words. "I understand, ma'am. It will not happen again. I will take double shifts until the warehouse safeguards are in place."

"Schwarz and Weiß will be coming tomorrow night," a light masculine voice added from the background.

"Thank you Kellen, your input is much appreciated." The tall woman was trying to be nice to the one individual she despised more than anyone else in the world. It was a noble performance but completely transparent. Perhaps the two would get along better if Kellen weren't so much like his brother.

"Kel, leave them alone, they don't want to be bored with your melodrama, useful as it is." Ah, there was the rat bastard now. Hahn strolled into the room, dropping himself onto the sofa without taking off his shoes. One of these days, Lenka was going to kill them both. It was a day in which all of Sturm sat in anticipation.

Lenka, a tall woman with black hair and eyes that refused to blink had come to Sturm as something of a temporary agent and had, within the course of a few months become their leader of sorts. She was quick to anger and disliked all of her teammates, but she (for the most part) kept her opinions to herself and did the job Estet paid her to do. At least, that was what she did up until the end of Estet. When the organization had fallen, she found herself stuck with three children and two grown children, none of them with an idea of how to survive outside of Estet's carefully constructed world. In an act of stupidity that she often regretted, she took pity on the fools and continued to lead them toward their goal: world conquest.

"Kellen, if you insist on consuming our resources, make yourself useful and clean the bathrooms." A flick of Lenka's wrist and the television shut itself off, all power drained from it. "You may continue to watch your sports when your chores are done." She turned to the other two "children" in the room. "Stefan, take Birgit and begin preparations for tomorrow's battle. If you fail this time, you will not be forgiven. Either of you."

"Being a little tough on the kiddies, aren't you?" Hahn asked, watching the three go.

"They'll appreciate the discipline once they're in our places," Lenka assured, her shoulders only relaxing slightly. From the moment Hahn had been admitted onto the team and brought his chaotic little brother with him, things hadn't gone well for her team. Kellen was a bad influence on Stefan and Lenka, and Hahn was a useless dolt whose only redeeming value was his skills in battle. If Lenka had to fight with or against the firestarter, she was going to fight with him, no matter how disgusted she was with him. She didn't trust him at all, but he had yet to do anything to overtly hurt her team. For his sake, he best keep it that way.

--#--

The plan had been fairly simple, Crawford had outlined it for unconditional success. Too bad they hadn't seen the pit on the other side of those crates. Omi, Nagi, Schuldich, and Ran had done their part beautifully. Omi and Nagi set the explosives, Schuldich and Ran created the diversion. All Crawford, Ken, and Yohji had to do was find some nice vantage points to watch and cover people's backs. Ken saw a pile of crates and thought it prime hiding real estate. He vaulted over the top of the wooden boxes and landed in a trap. A twelve foot deep trap. Yohji tried to get him out, but Ken's weight only managed to pull the blonde into the pit with him. Crawford was going to help them but foresaw himself being dragged into the pit and informed the two that he would see them next week. Bastard.

"Here Ken-sama, I brought you something to drink." Brigit set a glass of milk and two cookies down next to Ken's chained form. "Stefan says he'll come release you soon so you can move around more."

"Thanks," Ken replied awkwardly. Since he'd been captured and separated from Yohji this girl had barely left his side. She kept trying to make him more comfortable and insisting that he should behave or bad things would happen. The worst bit was the constant echoes of "Ken-sama" that rung in the room when she spoke.

She scooted closer, bringing the cup to his lips. "Drink."

"I'm not thirsty, but maybe later." He smiled and she swooned. At least working in a flower shop had taught him the basics of handling teenage girls. Hopefully Yohji's own torture session was going as well as his was.

--#--

"Hey there hot stuff." Hahn trotted into the holding cell and blew a kiss to his captive. The chained man groaned but didn't offer any further resistance. "If I knew something this good was part of the mission I never would've complained about digging that pit."

"Are you here to torture me to death with bad pickup lines? So you know, I've heard worse." Yohji's head was resting against the lukewarm wall, his hands long since drained of blood from being extended above his head. For fun he tried to flex his fingers, unsurprised when there was no response. "Great, now my fingers will have to be amputated. No one wants to sleep with a guy with no fingers." If he kept talking to himself and ignoring the idiot in the room, maybe said idiot would leave him to suffer in peace.

"You're cute when you're bitching." Hahn slid up next to his bound foe and began rubbing his arms. "I can't let you go, but I can help you a bit. Can't have the greater population deprived of such beautiful fingers."

"You are _trying_ to be cheesy aren't you? If you're really this socially handicapped then I have nothing but pity for your poor, dateless soul." Despite his words, Yohji was somewhat grateful to this man who, no doubt wanted to kill him. A few more good rubs and Yohji's fingers might be able to move. "Any chance of you letting me out of these things?"

"Pretty slim since I don't have a key." Hahn continued to rub feeling back into Yohji's arms, letting the conversation fade in favor of humming a tune he'd heard on the radio that morning. When Yohji's fingers were no longer blue, he patted the blonde on the head and left. "You have fun in here gorgeous, and be careful, Lenka's due to give you a visit soon."

Yohji flexed his fingers and sighed. "These people are nuts." _Wonder how Ken's holding up. If that perv touches him, I'll gouge his eyes out._


	15. The Longest Night

Kon'nichi wa minna!

Wow, it's been a long time, longer than anyone should have to tolerate. And yet, you've stuck with me, and for that I thank you. Here you have it, the long overdue update of KW. Enjoy.

-Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 15: The Longest Night

"What do you mean you left him there?" Ran had Crawford pinned against a wall and was occasionally shaking the precog, causing his head to smack against the drywall.

"It means, Fujimiya, that I did not succumb to inevitably falling into the pit and ensuring our demise. Everything will work out. Ken will return in a week." Brad was calm, controlled, and getting a headache. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to stop Schuldich from forming a rescue mission before he sends himself to a messy death." He pushed Ran away with little effort, smiling thinly at the redhead's shocked expression.

"You saw this and you didn't..."

"It wouldn't have changed anything." Brad assured as he left the room.

-&-

"So, you played soccer, right? I hear you were pretty good."

Ken sat in his cell, uncuffed, freezing, and trying for all the world to ignore the inquisitive man who'd walked by his cell and decided to "come say hi." So far Ken had been forced to listen to Kellen's family history, his views on someone named Lenka (which were not particularly positive) and answer stupid personal questions. This combined with the overly bubbly fangirl that kept popping in was enough to drive him batty. Couldn't they just kill him already? The only tolerable one had been the grumbling kid who'd come to let him out of the chains. "Yeah." It was Ken's stock answer at this point. Coupled with "Really?" and a surprised-but-intrigued "Huh," he was ready for anything Kellen threw at him.

Kellen smiled the sort of smile Farfarello was famous for. "You're going to be tortured tomorrow. Thought you might like to know." Mirth faded into boredom. "Lenka's always torturing people, maybe she'll let Stefan give it a go. He needs the practice."

Was this guy for real? "Hi, excuse me." Ken waved his hands frantically. "You're talking about my impending torture. Do you mind keeping the details to yourself, please?" What kind of nutcases were these people? Sturm was full of crazy fangirls and overly talkative assholes. Estet really did breed a fine sort, didn't they?

"I was just being nice; you don't have to get pissy. See if I help you again." Kellen rose, sparing a moment to examine Ken in all his brooding glory. "You're going to live, if that helps any." Before Ken could answer, Kellen was gone, the sound of a lock sliding firmly into place echoing behind him.

-&-

Visions, particularly intense ones, always made him crave sharp cheddar cheese. The taste helped to wash away the bile-like aftertaste of having your stomach jump into your throat. He didn't have much time to act, but he should be able to be suitably convincing in his pajamas-- provided he had his gun with him, of course. Nobody would be terrified of Bradley Crawford at three in the morning, wearing red and blue striped flannel pajamas if the man weren't carrying a very clean, very shiny gun. He ate his cheese quickly.

Two minutes later, footsteps were heard on the apartment landing. Crawford was in position, his gun properly holstered as he leaned casually against the catwalk railing. "Abyssinian, go back to bed."

"I'm going to find him." Ran's eyes flickered in the dying yellow path light, and Crawford could make out the dark circles forming around them. How touching, Abyssinian really did care.

"Yes, you will find him. Then, you will be captured. Both of you will be tortured and you will strike a deal; if they let Ken go, you'll tell them whatever they want. You'll tell them, they'll shoot you, then they'll go into the next room and shoot Ken. Both of you will die and I will not have the resources necessary to stop Sturm from destroying everything you've worked to create in these last few years." Crawford flashed the gun. It was a subtle movement, but the spazzing light made bright fireworks across the metal. "No matter what you do, Ken will not come out of this unscathed. He can come out alive if you handle things properly." And, as an afterthought, "Yohji will be tortured as well. Neither of them will reveal anything."

"When will it be safe to retrieve them?" The click-clack of a katana being popped in and out of its sheath bounced down the empty catwalk. Ran never could rid himself of that nervous habit. Luckily, he was rarely nervous.

"We won't have to; they'll come back to us." What Crawford declined to mention was the half-dead condition he foresaw the pair returning in. If he mentioned that, Abyssinian would do something stupid. So many futures ended with Abyssinian doing something stupid, the precog was amazed that the rest of Weiß featured him as such a stoic man. "Now go back to bed and pretend to sleep before Omi wakes up and begins asking questions you do not want to answer."

Abyssinian lurched back to his apartment, sparing one worried look to the unoccupied bed next to his. Despite everything, Yohji was still his teammate and he did still care for him. The silence and the smokeless air were depressing. The door opened before Ran could realize he was already mourning the loss of his comrades. "What are you doing here?"

"Crawford sent me to babysit you." Farfarello shut the door quietly and sunk to the ground against it. "I'll be staying here until Yohji and Ken come back. Now go to sleep." Farfello pulled out a book from a dingy backpack that might once have been powder blue.

"I'm not keeping the light on."

"Be quiet, I'm going to read you a bedtime story." Pages turned until Farfarello cleared his throat. "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth..."

Ran covered his head with his pillow and sunk into the overly firm mattress. Yohji blowing a cloud of smoke in his face was better than this. Even _Schuldich _ was better than this.

-&-

"You have two options. One, you can cooperate. Two, you can die."

Ken looked up at the woman holding the syringe, already knowing his answer. "I'll die before I betray them." He had been freed to walk around the cell, he could take this slip of a lady.

"Stefan." Lenka snapped her fingers and the teenager appeared at her side. "Hold him in place while I prepare him."

"Yes ma'am." Stefan raised a hand and Ken felt the air pushing in around him. Why did everyone else have super powers and he was stuck with nothing?

"Now then Siberian, brace yourself." It wasn't so much the needle entering his flesh that caused him to scream so much as the way she wiggled it around once it was lodged in his arm. "Come now, it's far too early to be screaming that way. I haven't even brought out the thumb screws yet."

-&-

"What was that?" Yohji's head snapped up at the sound of screaming. It sounded like Ken, but the echo distorted it too much for him to be certain.

"That was Lenka torturing your friend." Hahn sat across from Yohji in a lawn chair, smoking a cigarette and occasionally blowing the smoke toward Yohji, whose nicotine fits had been the firestarter's only source of amusement in the past half hour. "Kellen says you'll both live, so don't worry too much about it. You'll probably just have some scars."

Yohji struggled against his chains, snarling. "Let me out of here now or so help me I'll..."

The door opened and a tall man in loose red slacks and a black t shirt entered. "Hahn, if you're not going to be useful, you can leave." He was carrying a black leather briefcase that jingled when he moved.

"Well hot stuff, looks like it's time for your torture session. Call me a coward, but I don't really have the stomach for what Ludger here's going to do to you. Stay in touch!" Hahn blew Yohji a kiss and sprinted out of the room before Ludger decided to extend the coming activities to him as well.

Ludger set his briefcase down on Hahn's abandoned chair. "You have two options. One, you can cooperate. Two, you can die."

"I'll take the third option, thanks." Yohji's cocky smile was back in place and, as Ludger snapped open his briefcase and pulled out a painfully long needle of something green, Yohji tried his hardest not to tremble. He couldn't scream. If he screamed, Ken would lose hope. As long as one of them lived, there could be vengeance.

-&-

"It's been an hour already." Kellen yawned and searched around for a clean fork to eat his salad with. These days all they were eating were salads of one variety or anther. It was Birgit's idea to help them "stay healthy." Kellen was fairly certain that the girl had just mentioned it to torture his meat-loving soul.

Hahn tossed a pair of chopsticks over to his brother. "Birgit got rid of all the forks. She thinks we should embrace local culture." The pantomimed gag showed what Hahn thought of _that_ particular idea. "I doubt they'll give in to screaming. They're both unnecessarily stubborn."

"They're not going to give anything away. I already told Lenka that." Kellen grabbed one stick in each hand and began stabbing at the spinach in his bowl.

"Yes, _you_ told her that, which means she'll spend the next week or two proving you wrong. In doing so, she'll cross some line with the two which will lock down their resolve and bring your vision to fruition. Pity, really, the blonde one was cute. Lenka's probably going to disfigure him."

"Nah, she'll probably just run him down. The other one's going to be a mess, though. She cuts off his ear in a few visions I've had. The worst I've seen the blonde get is a few toes cut off." Kellen reached for the newspaper, frowning at the foreign characters before shoving the paper across the table. "Find us a movie to go to."

A snap and the newspaper went up in flames. "We'll just go down and pick one. Maybe we can find you a nice Japanese girl to settle down with, too. Then you can stop following me around." Hahn smiled sweetly at his younger brother before dodging the cup of orange juice that flew his way. Unfortunately, he was unable to avoid the arc of liquid trailing behind said cup. "Kellen!" The younger boy took off, Hahn running closely behind him. Hahn never caught his brother, who always used his abilities to cheat, but a day without a good, brotherly chase was far too dull.

-&-

"I'm sorry, but they're making me do this," Birgit whispered as she approached Ken, who was currently tied, electric chair style, to a large, splintery, wooden chair.

"Less talk and more work," Lenka barked, tidying up a few of her "instruments" in the corner.

"Yes ma'am." Birgit placed her hands on either side of Ken's head. "This is going to hurt for a very long time," she said matter-of-factly. She took a deep breath and began. "His heart is very green."

"Find something useful. I am uninterested in the smaller details." Lenka carefully placed her scalpel into its carrying case. It was her favorite torture scalpel and, though she hadn't used it today, she didn't want it getting bent or damaged due to negligence.

"People, so many people." Birgit's hands tightened, gripping some of Ken's hair. "The blonde is there, and the red haired one, and someone else. It's like a large field, and they're all standing, waiting. Children, I see children. No faces, but there are so many of them. Fire, in the distance, and fear. So much fear..."

"Enough. We have enough." Lenka took one of Birgit's slim wrists in either hand and ripped them from the captive's body. "Send for Ludger and Hahn. I will require their services. You are to keep an eye on Balinese and glean what you can from him indirectly. When I have finished with Siberian, we will Scan Balinese. Clear?"

"Yes Lenka.." Birgit gave a quick salute and scuttled out of the room, casting a concerned glance back to the bound Siberian. He was going to have a headache for a few days, but that was nothing compared to what Lenka was planning; that was going to leave him screaming for life.

-&-

Yohji wasn't sure how long he'd refrained from screaming, all he knew was that, at some point, he hadn't been able to hold it in any longer. Ludger, while generally polite about the ordeal, hadn't had any qualms about twisting his arm out of joint, stabbing him in the side, or cutting off his air several times until he passed out. Yohji hadn't talked, though, just screamed until his mind fled to a dark corner reserved for lonely, rainy nights. His worst nightmares were better than his reality at the moment, so he took refuge in them, played them over and over again until the past wasn't so painful. Maybe he was finally learning to move on-- maybe he was going insane. At some point, the waves of new pain ceased and he was left in a total-body ache that pulled him into a sleep from which he never wanted to wake.


	16. Time to Burn

Kon'nichi wa minna!

So here's another chapter of Koneko Wars, out in a somewhat timely fashion, ne? I'm going to try and discipline myself so I can get the story finished. We're heading towards the conclusion here and, yes, there will be some relationship resolution. If you're ever curious as to the current progress of KW, feel free to check out my new, spiffy Livejournal, user Whisper132. I'll be posting updates there as well as any misc. ficlets that happen to crop up.

Enjoy the read,

Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 16: Time to Burn

:_Don't__ move, just listen to what I've got to say_.:

Ran took a deep breath and sunk deeper into his bed. Three in the morning was no time to be discussing this, particularly with a wide awake Berserker sitting against his door, still reading the Bible despite the fact that there were no lights on. :_Mastermind__, I am not interested in any plans you may have concocted. Go to bed before Crawford shoots the both of us.:_

_ :Crawford won't know, just listen.:_

_ :Crawford _will_ know. Crawford probably _already_ knows and has set a knife licking barricade at my door as a result.: Ran_ concentrated on the high pitched voice echoing in his room. Deuteronomy was almost done.

-&-

"Your resistance to my methods has been impressive, Siberian, but I grow tired of waiting." Lenka's blew a stray bit of hair out of her face, snarling slightly. "You have forced me to be cruel and, while I do not enjoy it, I _will _be cruel if need be." She walked to her briefcase and pulled out another long needle, this time filled with something orange. Noting Siberian's slightly wide gaze, she smiled. "This is a muscle relaxant to keep you from struggling. I have noted your strength and, coupled with the adrenaline that is about to be produced, you might break through your restraints." She squirted a bit of liquid out of the needle, just for fun. "I can't have that, can I?"

-&-

"Why hello there little missy. I don't suppose you'd like to let me out of these straps, would you?" Yohji smiled as Brigit walked in, hands behind her back, eyes cast to the ground. "At the very least, would you mind bringing me a cigarette? Even men on death row get cigarettes." Despite the casual words, Yohji was shaking, not from lack nicotine, but from the horrible thoughts of what the nice looking little girl might do to him. Ludger had been very polite while torturing him, which had made the experience all the more painful. Under other circumstances, Ludger might not have been a bad guy-- except for the joyous light in his eyes when he popped Yohji's kneecap out of joint.

"Shhhhhh. Ludger is busy now. You are safe until tomorrow. Rest." She walked to the side of the room and turned on a small tap, gathering water in her cupped hands. "All of the cups here have drugs on the rims, be careful. Drink."

Yohji didn't care if he was being drugged or not. The faintly chlorinated scent of water was a temptation he couldn't resist. As he drank the slight liquid offered to him, he watched the girl. She'd come in before, usually apologizing before something horrible happened. It was a brilliant torture technique, trying to give him a sense of false hope. He wasn't going to fall for it. "Thanks." He wasn't going to fall for it, but he couldn't be rude, either, just in case.

"Ken-sama will be screaming soon. I came to warn you. He is your weakest point. Him and that woman, they're always at the front of your heart, burning like fire." She brought Yohji another handful of water. "Lenka is going to shatter his heart. She's going to destroy every corner of him and rebuild it the way she wants, just like with Stefan." A tear trailed down her cheek, but was quickly wiped away. "Kellen says Ken-sama will reveal nothing. There is nothing you can do to save him, please do not try. It will only make things harder for the both of you."

Yohji watched Birgit walk out of the room, not quite sure how to react to the strange encounter. They were going to rip Ken's heart to shreds and there was nothing he could do about it. Sturm was going to torture the both of them and there was nothing that could prevent it. Damn but he could use a cigarette right now.

-&-

"Look Lenka, I know you're really gung ho on getting information out of this guy, but this isn't going to work." Hahn's smile was nervous with just a tinge of fear at the corners, right where his mouth refused to turn up all the way. "If it's all the same, I'd rather not do this."

"You _will_ do this or you will be punished for insubordination." Lenka held a small girl, around seven, by the shoulders. The girl was gagged, bound, and blindfolded.

"But she's just a little kid. If I knew that killing little kids was part of this..." Hahn paused as Ken screamed behind his gag, "...then I never would've agreed to be on the team."

"Estet found you half dead and gave you a life worth living. If you _dare_ rescind your pledge now, I will have no mercy on you." Lenka's gaze was unyielding. She shoved the child in the center of the room and carefully attached her bindings to a metal ring in the floor. "You've done it before, do it again."

Hahn looked up at Ken and mouthed a very heartfelt "sorry" before raising his hand, igniting the child aflame. Hahn's arms widened and an arc of flame encased Ken and the girl, obscuring the both of them from the firestarter's sight. It was days like these that he really, really hated his job.

-&-

Crawford dropped his coffee mug. "Where are Prodigy and Bombay?"

"I would think, given the hour, that they are asleep." Ran threw a towel toward Crawford and continued to stare at the tea kettle on the stove. If it would hurry up and boil, they could get this stupid "meeting" over with. "Send Farfarello over if you're that concerned."

"Brad's just grumpy because he hasn't figured out how to save us yet," Schuldich poked his head out of Crawford's refrigerator long enough to give the other two a sharp smile. "He's afraid that we'll all die without your two lost cats." Before he could suffer Ran's scowl of displeasure, Schuldich stuck his head back in the fridge.

"They wouldn't be lost of I could go _get_ them," Ran grumbled, twisting the knob on the stove, just to make sure it was really on high.

"Bombay and Prodigy are planning something. It would be wise to intervene." The stock page was saturated with decaf coffee. The coffee wasn't supposed to be decaf, but Schuldich had switched all of Crawford's coffee in an effort to save the man's kidneys from premature deterioration. Crawford played along because Schuldich's rare show of concern was cute.

"If you want to stop them then go ahead. I don't want the water boiling away and a fire starting." The smile Ran sent to the precog was acidic and the redhead hoped the stupid American's flesh would seer off just from looking at it.

Brad stood still, dropping the soggy newspaper. Seconds later he shook out of his vision and glared down at the mess on the floor. "Clean it up, Fujimiya. I'm going to save your teammate for you."

-&-

"Brad's going to find us," Nagi hollered at Omi's neck. The two were currently riding Omi's moped down the street, ignoring various traffic laws in hopes of finding the two lost Weiß.

"We've got a ten minute head start. He couldn't catch us even if he left right now," Omi reasoned. If only he knew where Ken's keys were, he could've taken the motorcycle. He also needed his legs to reach the ground. Nagi would laugh at him if they fell, so he couldn't take the motorcycle, even if he wanted to. But, if asked, the keys were what really sold him on taking the moped in all its pink glory.

"We're on an electric roller skate. Crawford has a _car_. He's going to find us and he's going to make me sleep in his room and put Farfie in with you." Unconsciously, the telekinetic held onto the archer a little bit tighter. It wouldn't help Ken and Yohji if he fell off and broke his neck at the offset of this rescue mission.

"He doesn't know where we're going. We didn't tell him the location of the safehouse." He pulled the gas-handle tighter to no effect. "Damn it, why did we take this…"

"You couldn't find Ken's keys and didn't want to hot-wire the motorcycle." Nagi held on a little tighter. "If I concentrate, I might be able to get it to go faster. Don't let me fall off."

Omi took one hand from the handlebars to intertwine with one of Nagi's. "I won't let you go." It was a phrase he had said the other night, in a different and more magnificent context, but it would have to do in its mundane form for the time. He couldn't let Nagi fall. If he did, he'd have to follow. For some reason that defied Omi's logic, he couldn't bear to take another breathe without the quiet boy currently trying to absorb himself into the dark t-shirt that Omi was wearing. He understood how Ran-kun felt, and he couldn't stand idle while his leader was in that kind of pain. Hopefully the ten minute lead would be enough to let them get to Sturm's safehouse and perform the most difficult mission of their lives.

-&-

It was over and everything in front of him had been reduced to a pile of soot. At some point, his gag had even burned. His face was probably scarred. God how he wanted them to kill him and get it over with.

"Are you ready to talk yet, Siberian?" Heavy, determined steps- it was that woman again. If he ever got out of here, he was going to run his claws through her entrails and spit on her remains. A blunt something impacted with his stomach. "Siberian, I asked you a question. I expect a response, and in a timely fashion."

"Go to Hell." The blunt object impacted again, this time with his sternum. If he concentrated on the burnt taste of his lips, the pain dulled a bit, though.

"I see." She sighed. She did that a lot, usually before she thought of something worse to do. At least Ran was safe, and it had been several hours since he heard any screaming from Yohji's direction. Another hit came to his shoulder. She must've noticed his thoughts wandering. "Speak, or I'll bring your friend in next."

It was a lie. He didn't have any special powers, but he could spot a lie like none other. He remained quiet. It was the one thing that really seemed to get to her and what did he have left, really, but to agitate her until she became tired of him or killed him. At this point, death wasn't really so bad a thought. At least it would get the image of little Chihiro out of his mind. It would get her screaming out of his ears. Opening his burnt eyelids a bit, Ken scanned the room, noting that the woman was the only one there. Taking a deep breath, Ken let out a long, agonizing scream. Then he fainted.

-&-

"That was crap," Hahn hissed, pulling a gallon of milk out of the fridge.

"Could have told you that without using my powers," Kellen yawned, poking at the salad before him. Really, his aniki should've known better, but he never learned. This whole Estet life wasn't for them. He'd been telling Hahn that for years, but he was scared of what Lenka would do to them. Still..."We should leave. She won't find us. We could hide out with Weiß if we bring those two back."

"And how do you propose we get them out? Wait until everyone's asleep and just walk out of here?" Hahn snorted and began drinking milk straight from the carton, just the way Lenka hated it.

"Two options, we can stay and you can burn the brunette in the morning and the blonde the day after, or we can leave and have a nice happily ever after life. Your choice, I'm not the one who's going to be roasting people alive."

The milk hit the floor, but not before a nice arc of white clung to the walls and lower cabinets. "We just get them and go?"

"Well, Stefan will be on watch, but I can take care of that." He smiled because he knew he had won. After years of dealing with Lenka's bloody iron fist, they were finally going to be free.


	17. Rescue

Wow, long time no see, eh? But, after a bit of a wait, here it is, chapter 17. After this, we can move back to the fluffly goodness and resolution you've all been waiting for. Sorry for the delay, minna. I hope you're still with me.

Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 17: Rescue

When Kellen finished his dinner, he sent Hahn to pack their things then went to the garage for his Vespa. It was neon orange and, therefore, not the most stealthy of vehicles, but he _wanted_ to be recognized. If his vision came true, and the two boys currently riding straight for their base actually arrived, all of Kellen's plans would be ruined. So, donning his helmet, he rode out to meet them, well away from the compound's front gates. When he saw their vehicle coming, he waved frantically. "Hoi! Weiß! Schwarz!" He'd wanted to come up with something better, but they would've passed him by if he didn't indicate that he knew exactly who they were. "C'mere!"

They stopped the bike but didn't approach. They probably thought it was a trap. They weren't altogether wrong. The blonde spoke first. "Who are you?"

"A Sturm affiliate planning a jailbreak. You can call me Kellen if it will be easier." He smiled his lady-killer smile and moved toward the two, hands held in the air. "See, no weapons. I've just got spooky precognitive powers, so you don't have to worry about that, either." The two boys weren't letting down their guard, but Kellen hadn't expected them to. From what he'd heard, Weiß and Schwarz were good. You weren't good if you ever let your guard down. "They're expecting you up at the big house, so I wouldn't try anything tonight. But, if you come back tomorrow morning at around 7:23am and brought a vehicle able to carry four people and some gear, you might have a better chance of rescuing your friends."

"What are you suggesting?" The dark haired boy spoke this time.

The backs of Kellen's eyes burned and, briefly, he saw himself being flung against a tree. "We're going to talk without violence tonight, or me helping you is a no-go." He turned to look at the dark haired boy. "That means no telekinesis. If you fling me into any trees, we're going to call the deal off and your friends can fry tomorrow. Got it?"

"He's lying," the dark haired one hissed to the blonde.

"We're going to have to chance it. I've seen him in the files," the blonde looked up to meet Kellen's eyes. "Brother to Hahn, a firestarter, but not officially part of Sturm."

_Finally_ _a sensible one._ "I never had the privilege of being recruited by Estet and, as such, I never got to meet up with you and your fellow Schwarz. You would be?" Kellen held out a hand in friendship, or as close to it as two enemies could get under the circumstances, and it was promptly slapped away by the brunette.

"This is Prodigy and I'm Bombay. That should suffice for our dealings."

"Fine, fine. Business, then?" The two nodded. "My brother and I want out. We're willing to get you your teammates back if you'll arrange a little amnesty for us. We have information you might find handy, should you want to take the rest of Sturm down."

"We can do it on our own," Prodigy snarled, his fists tightening.

"No, you can't. You may outnumber Sturm, but they've been planning your demise for years now. They have contingency plans. They have resources. You're just not capable of handling that kind of organization, particularly since this is, what, your second week working as a team? I bet Schwarz and Weiß are biting eachother's heads off." There was no rebuttal, so he assumed he was correct. "You two seem to be getting cozy, though, a real hope for the future, I'll bet. So, do we have a deal?"

"Yes." Bombay said, holding out his hand.

"No." Prodigy contested, pulling Bombay's hand back.

Kellen laughed and rolled his shoulders. It was getting cold and he was tired of tensely waiting to be flung against things. "If we have a deal, go one mile more down the road and wait at the third road barrel. If we don't, then just try and infiltrate our base. Ciao."

"How do we send you our answer?" Bombay called, his voice barely audible over the humming of the Vespa.

"You won't have to." Kellen tapped his head and flashed them a quick "V" before driving off. They would come- he'd already seen it.

**&-&**

"You have two minutes to explain yourselves, starting now." To say that Brad was angry with the two young runaways would be putting it mildly. Brad was, if you were to ask him and he were to tell you the truth instead of the usual, casually constructed lie, livid. He had, at several points in the night, thought of many nasty, painful ways to convince the two boys that running off into danger was a _bad idea._ Abyssinian had been the one to spot the two coming into the drive and, as such, Crawford was unable to enact any of his planned discipline.

"We found Ken and Yohji and have arranged for a way to get them free." Omi stepped forward from where he and Nagi stood. When the duo arrived, they were rushed into Abyssinian's apartment, which was where they were now. Brad was sitting in the good chair, forcing Abyssinian to stand near the wall. Schuldich was in another chair, across the room, refusing to say anything to Crawford, which was fine as far as the American was concerned.

Crawford, adjusted his glasses. "Explain."

"We ran into a member of Sturm, Kellen. He's the precognitive brother of the firestarter Hahn. He expressed a desire for a trade. We give Hahn and Kellen amnesty and they deliver Ken and Yohji to us." As he spoke, Nagi's expression betrayed his distrust of the deal, though he seemed resigned to its necessity.

"And what makes you think this isn't a trap?" To Crawford's surprise, it was Abyssinian who spoke as the voice of reason.

Omi balled his fists at his sides and took a deep breath. "We don't have a choice, Aya-kun. Even if it is a trap, we're running out of time. If they're torturing Ken-kun and Yohji-kun, we need to act now, before they are killed or…" Omi trailed off, looking anywhere but at the redhead.

"Or before they crack," Nagi supplied.

"I have not envisioned the later, though the former is a high possibility," Crawford admitted. He didn't like the idea, but he was aware that it was a viable option and a good sight better than anything they'd managed to come up with on their own.

"When's the meeting?" Schuldich asked. There was probably never a doubt in his mind as to whether or not they'd be following through with the plan. Even if the group didn't agree to it, Schuldich would still go. He was stupid like that, sometimes.

"7:23 tomorrow morning. We'll be meeting at a rendezvous point about three miles out from where we suspect the Sturm compound to be. We will require a vehicle large enough for four passengers plus the rescue team." Omi fished into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled map. "We can set snipers along the side for emergencies, but they'll probably be prepared. Our best move would be a straight on approach. We come in the van, we take Ken and Yohji, if everything seems on the level, we take the two Sturm."

"Sounds good to me. I'll be in my room taking a nap. Meet here at four to begin the mission?" Schuldich asked, stretching. He looked calm and collected, but Crawford knew better. He saw the subtle twitch of the eyebrow, the slow clenching of the fist. Schuldich wouldn't be napping tonight.

"Roger that," Omi replied, his eyes distant.

**&-&**

Ken wondered why anyone bothered to knock, much less say "excuse me" upon entering. Ken lifted his head just enough to see who it was; the girl again. She had a glass of water and some bandages.

"Kellen told me to bandage you up. He's going to take you away from here, where you'll be safe." Birgit petted Ken's head, her fingers stinging his burned scalp. "I won't get to see you anymore, but Kellen says he'll take care of you. Here, drink."

As Birgit applied cool ointment to Ken's wounds, he wondered how much longer it would be until his next torture began.

**&-&**

"Come on hot stuff, we're outta here." Hahn sauntered into Yohji's cell, a knapsack on his shoulder. "I'm going to get you out of these chains, so don't go attacking me when I do."

Yohji had enough presence of mind to laugh. Yeah, he'd attack with a broken leg and two dislocated shoulders. "Just go away."

"Sorry beautiful, no can do. We're meeting your friends in an hour and Birgit can only distract Stefan for so long before he remembers he's supposed to be working. We need to get you and Siberian out of here before that happens." Hahn looked at Yohji's leg. "Nothing we can do about that," he sighed, gesturing to the mangled limb. "You're just gonna have to deal with the pain a bit longer. Think you can do that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Hahn smiled. "Of course you do. You can come with me and live, or you can stay here and deal with Lenka. Which would you prefer?" Hahn released the first chain then quickly stepped back.

"Help me up?" Yohji asked, taking a deep breathe. He'd been in worse pain. What was a few hours more?'

**&-&**

"Does the medical kit have everything we'll need?" Abyssinian asked for the twelfth time in the last five minutes.

"Aya-kun, I already told you yes, please calm down." Ran was getting on Omi's nerves, which meant that Crawford would have been ready to disembowel the Weiß member. Luckily, Schuldich was keeping Crawford busy.

"Do we have enough for both Ken _and_ Yohji?" Abyssinian asked, poking through the kit. The kit began to float up, out of his reach.

"Leave it alone," Nagi grumbled, though he was smiling, just a little. Nagi enjoyed the rare sight of Ran Fujimiya abandoning his composure. It made him a little more human.

Ran moved and began to fasten on his katana. "We leave in five minutes," he grumbled. "Where are Schuldich and Crawford?"

**&-&**

"You think this is okay?" Schuldich asked, sipping at a cup of coffee.

"The rescue operation will be successful. It will cause Sturm to retreat and regroup. We will buy at least half a year of time. Lenka is too careful to launch an attack when two of her members have defected. She'll establish a new base and re-fortify her team before attacking." Crawford poured himself a cup of coffee, black, unlike Schuldich's cream and sugar nightmare.

"She never did rush into anything." Schuldich moved closer. "What about those two refugees. Think they'll cause any problems?"

"I haven't foreseen any, but I'm putting that judgment in your hands. I expect you to carry out a full assessment when they arrive." Crawford looked down at his coffee. What did Fujimiya stock, store brand? This swill was a defilement to the name of coffee.

"Now you see why I used the sugar and cream?" Schuldich laughed, scooting closer still. He set his coffee down. "Are we gonna stick around when all of this is over?" It went without saying that Schuldich hoped the answer was yes.

"Nagi would remain behind without our consent and Farfarello would be upset if he didn't get to witness the close to Fujimiya, Hidaka, and Kudou's domestic venture." Crawford poured his coffee down the sink, in the process getting as far away from Schuldich as he could.

"Does that mean we're staying?"

"It means that I will not disallow it if you wish to stay. I have things that need tending to and will be leaving when we have finished this operation. I will return before I am needed." Brad wasn't expecting to be slapped in the face for his remark. It would seem that Schuldich was dissatisfied with his response. "I would ask you to refrain from such outbursts in the future, Schuldich."

"When were you planning to tell me that we were leaving, Brad? I have bags that need to be packed and goodbyes to say and souvenirs to buy." Schuldich turned away from his leader. His shoulders were shaking just slightly.

"Schuldich, are you crying?"

"No," Schuldich growled, turning around to reveal that his fists were clenched tight, his teeth; bared. "I'm trying to remind myself why I tolerate you. For all that I tell Ken he's crazy for loving Kudou and Fujimiya, you'd think I'd get the hint, myself." Schuldich advanced in three large, loud steps. "You," he dug a finger into Brad's chest, "are about as loveable as a rabid dog. You hide behind your glasses and this stupid macho attitude and you refuse to admit you give a damn about any of us." Schuldich grabbed two fistfuls of Brad's suit. "Despite that, if you leave without me, I'm going to hunt you down and handcuff you to my side, you understand?"

Crawford's eyes were gazing off at something only he could see. The heat of Schuldich's breath had fogged up Crawford's classes and the layer of moisture was slow in receding. It was a blessing, really, because Crawford didn't want to look as exposed as he felt. "Understood." He allowed a small smile to flash across his lips. He lowered his pride enough to pat Schuldich's hand, which was still gripping his suit. "You are wrinkling my jacket. Please unhand me." Schuldich let go and stalked toward the door. "Schuldich, I will expect your bags to be packed and in my car by the start of the mission. If they are not, you will not be bringing them."

Schuldich saluted and was gone.

**&-&**

Weiß and Schwarz arrived at the rendezvous point at 7am. By 7:20, they were planning for the worst. At 7:23, two figures rode up on two motorcycles whose sidecars were full. "Oi! Some help over here!" Kellen called, killing the engine to his bike. In the sidecar was Ken, surrounded by blankets.

Abyssinian rushed forward, Omi at his heels. "Get off the bike and stand by the tree," he barked. "If you try anything, we'll shoot you."

"Fine, fine." Kellen walked casually over to a tree, where Prodigy was standing guard. "Hey kid, how's it going?"

"Don't call me kid." Prodigy snapped, using his powers to shove Kellen into the tree. "And don't move."

Meanwhile, Hahn was standing perfectly still. This was because Crawford was pointing a gun at his head. "I am aware," Crawford said, "that you will not be trying anything this evening. Let me inform you that if this future changes at any point, you will be dead. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Hahn replied, his eyes moving to the body in his own sidecar. "You wanna take care of Balinese now? He had to walk through the house with a broken leg and his shoulders are dislocated."

"Nagi," Crawford called. "Come get Balinese. Schuldich, go keep our guest company."

"My pleasure," Schuldich chuckled. Schuldich waved at Nagi, who gave Kellen one more quick shove before leaving. "So, Kellen is it? How've you been?"

"I've been better." Kellen flexed his shoulders, trying to dislodge the larger pieces of bark from his skin. "You?"

"Oh, things are just wonderful, thanks. Are those bikes bugged?" The German moved to stand next to Kellen, back resting against the tree.

"To the gears. They were the fastest way to get here and the only way to transport Siberian and Balinese given their conditions. We planned to dump them off the side, unless you can do something with them?" Kellen felt a light prodding at the back of his mind. "You can't get in, so stop trying."

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about," Schuldich laughed, pleased his plan was working.

"Stop trying to pry into my mind. You can't."

"Born in Munich, were you? Me, too." Schuldich grinned and laughed at Kellen's expression. "You know those books on telepathy you've read? I _wrote_ them, kid. I'll do what I want with your mind, when I want to do it. Remember that." He patted Kellen on the head. "Don't wander too far, we're about ready to leave." With that, Schuldich went to find Crawford.

"Did you find anything?" Crawford asked when Schuldich stepped up beside him.

"They're clean. No trackers that I could find. They've got some neat defense mechanisms, but the two pronged mental assault never fails." He laughed, looking back to where Kellen was sulking under the tree. "Amateurs. Estet didn't get to fully train this last group. It's a shame the way they let themselves go near the end."

"Pay attention to the mission at hand, Schuldich." Crawford watched Nagi lift Yohji toward the van. Despite Bombay's assurance that there were plenty of medical supplies, Crawford doubted they had the tools to treat all of Siberian's burns and Balinese's broken bones. They would have to stop by a pharmacy on the way out of town. Farfarello was meeting the group at the first road outpost. He was driving Crawford's car and would have all their belongings as well as more supplies. As there was bound to be an excess of blood, Crawford thought it wise that the madman not come on the rescue journey. Blood tended to upset him.

"Those two could still have tracer implants, though." Bombay piped up from behind them. "We won't be able to remove them without a proper lab setup. We have a scrambler, but it doesn't have enough power to cover both of them." He looked to Crawford. "Abyssinian said to ask you which you thought was of higher threat value."

"Kellen will not be implanted. He's not an official team member. Hahn will be, though. Give him the scrambler."

Omi nodded and darted off to get the item.

"Excuse me," came a call from the motorcycle nearby. "They're going to notice we're gone soon. Don't you think we should get going?" Hahn cringed back at the look Crawford gave him. "It was just a question."

"An astute observation. We will leave as soon as Abyssinian's team neutralizes your tracer implant. Schuldich, take Kellen to the transport."

Schuldich saluted and turned to fetch Kellen, who was once again under Nagi's cold scrutiny. _Come on chibi, we're heading out. _Nagi floated Kellen to the car, only smacking the man into something once.


End file.
